


Sleep With A Gun

by HollowIsTheWorld



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Hunters, Angel Family, Gen, M/M, Past Adam/Samandriel, Past Castiel/Meg Masters, Past Character Death, angel family with tattoos, except for benny, hes still a vampire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-20
Updated: 2014-09-18
Packaged: 2018-01-25 21:47:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 88,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1663604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HollowIsTheWorld/pseuds/HollowIsTheWorld
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel Novak has been hunting for four years. His little brother, Samandriel, has been with him for half that time. When a job causes them to cross paths with the infamous Winchester brothers and their pet vampire, Samandriel is wary of them and wants to skip town while they can. Castiel, on the other hand, isn’t sure he wants to write them off so quickly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Never Gonna Fit In

**Author's Note:**

> Universe created by nikaalexandra on tumblr, and she has a considerable amount of art for it. Much of the backstory was created by her, and she designed Cas and Dri’s tattoos, so if you want references for them go check it out, hunter!verse is listed in her art tag. The title of the story and the chapters are from the song Teenagers by My Chemical Romance. This universe is kind of all over the place, but some important things to keep in mind for the sake of characterization: 1) They managed to kill Azazel before the gates of Hell got opened, so that never happened. Also, Sam never died, so Dean never sold his soul and never went to Hell. This is a hell-free Dean. 2) Benny got away from his nest without being killed, so he never went to Purgatory.

Samandriel collapsed onto the bed and fell face first into the pillow with a muffled groan. Castiel chuckled at him, but let out of a groan of his own as he sat down on the edge of the other motel room bed. “Little worn out there, Dri? Was the ghost too much for you?”

Samandriel responded with what Cas was sure was a well thought out retort, but he couldn’t understand a word of it through the pillow and the mattress. “What was that? An admission that your older brother is in better shape than you?”

Samandriel pushed himself up on his forearms, and winced when his muscles protested. “Shut up, Castiel. You’re not the one that got thrown out a window.”

“I got shoved into the half dug up grave.”

“A _window_ , Castiel. A window.”

“It was a first floor window.”

“Yeah, but it was closed. I got thrown through a closed window by a pissed off ghost. I’m lucky I don’t look like a human pincushion. I’m allowed to be sore and tired. Now go away.” Samandriel went back to mushing his face into the pillow.

Cas, who was sore and tired too, just gave a sleepy smirk and collapsed backwards. “Always complaining. I never would have brought you with me if I’d known you were going to complain so much.”

“Like you had a say in whether I came with you or not.”

Cas didn’t look up but he heard two dull thunks made by Samandriel kicking his shoes off, followed by the rustling of him getting under blankets. He followed suit, placing his gun under his pillow before settling down.

“’Night, Dri.”

Dri just made a tired sound in response and didn’t move. Castiel switched off the lamp, plunging the room into darkness, and shut his eyes. He was on the edge of falling asleep, in that in-between stage where nothing is quite real but it’s not quite a dream either, when his phone rang.

The first notes of ‘My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark’ blasted out into the room, the phone buzzing as it vibrated on the nightstand. Castiel considered ignoring it and hoping the caller would go away.

“Tell Michael I’ll kill him,” Samandriel mumbled.

Right. That was Michael’s ringtone, wasn’t it? Which meant he wasn’t going to give up if Castiel didn’t answer. The Novaks were infamous for their stubbornness, and being the oldest seemed to have made Michael the worst of the lot.

Cas reached out, fumbling around for a minute before his fingers closed around the guilty device. He answered and pressed it to his ear without opening his eyes or switching the light back on.

“This had better be important, Michael, I’m not in the mood.”

“It will never fail to amaze me how grouchy you can manage to be. Is Dri there?”

“Yes, and he’s even grouchier than I am. We’re tired, Michael, what do you want?”

“Yeesh, sorry. You know, I bet you wouldn’t be so grumpy if you weren’t out hunting monsters until all hours of the night.”

“Michael, do not start this right now, I will hang up on you.”

“I’d just call back.”

“Phones can be turned off, you know.”

Castiel heard Samandriel sit up in the other bed. “For fuck’s sake, what does he want? I’m trying to sleep.”

“You hear that, Michael? Now you’re keeping Dri up too. Why did you call?”

Michael huffed on the other end, probably irritated that he had to stop giving his two youngest brothers a hard time, and right when he’d really begun to get into it too.

“I wanted to know if you two are going to be home for Balthazar’s birthday.”

“And you decided to call and ask us this in the middle of the night?”

“Castiel, it’s almost nine in the morning.”

For the first time since returning to the motel, Castiel looked at the shining red numbers on the digital clock. It was, indeed, almost nine. It had been overcast and rainy outside for hours. The sunrise must have come without either of them noticing, too preoccupied with their injuries and exhaustion and the ghost. Still, it was an awful lot of time to have lost track of. Perhaps they’d lost consciousness at some point. Cas made a mental note to keep an eye out for signs of a concussion.

“Oh.”

Michael sighed. “Not realizing the time like that isn’t a good thing, Castiel.”

“Quit worrying so much, Michael.”

“You’re my baby brothers, it’s my job. Are you coming home for his birthday or not?”

“Hang on.” Cas lowered the phone and covered the mouthpiece. “Dri, are you still awake?”

“No.”

Cas rolled his eyes. “Michael wants to know if we’re going home for Balthazar’s birthday.”

Dri finally reached out and switched the lamp on, causing Cast to squint in the sudden brightness. “That’s what… three days from now?”

Cas nodded. “Yeah, and it’s a pretty long drive.”

“We’ve driven longer in less.”

“You want to go then?”

Dri hesitated, undoubtedly thinking the same thing as Cas. It would be great to go home for Balthazar’s birthday; it had been some time since they visited and Balthazar would be thrilled to see them. They hadn’t been home since Christmas.

On the other hand, they’d been planning to stay until New Years on that trip, but the days after Christmas hadn’t exactly been pleasant.

Finally, Samandriel nodded. “We should. We could even stay longer, if we want, I guess.”

Castiel nodded agreement. “Let’s not commit to that though, huh? You know how our family reunions tend to be.”

“No kidding. But yeah, tell Michael we’ll be there.”

Castiel brought the phone back to his ear again. “We’ll be there. I’ll give you a call when we have a better idea of when we’ll arrive.”

“Yeah, you better. And try not to show up in the middle of the night like you did last time. Gabriel was about to shoot you before he realized who you were.”

“I remember. We’ll do our best.”

“Okay. See you guys in a few days.”

“Bye, Michael.”

They both hung up. Castiel tossed the phone back onto the nightstand, Samandriel turned the lamp off, and they both collapsed onto their mattresses with exhausted groans.

Of course, now that Michael had forced him to get up, Cas was having a much harder time falling asleep than he had been before the phone call. He tried not to roll over too much as he tried to get comfortable, not wanting to make so much noise that Dri would be kept up by it. He was a lethal nightmare when he wanted more sleep than he was getting.

When Dri spoke and broke the silence, Cas was so surprised by it that he felt as though he was jumping out of his skin and his hand went instinctively for his gun.

“Let’s not talk about hunting this time.”

It was almost funny, but a stab of pain went through Castiel at the same time. The other five Novaks were often unsupportive of the way Cas and Dri spent their time and they weren’t at all afraid to make it known if the subject presented itself.

“I certainly don’t plan to.”

“And I’m not going to the Pit.”

“I know. I’m not going to make you.”

“Lucifer will probably try to.”

“Tell him to fuck off.”

Dri sighed. “I’m not sure I’m going to be able to sleep now.”

“Nothing like our big brothers to cure exhaustion.”

The lamp flicked on again. “Family shouldn’t be this stressful.”

Cas raised an eyebrow. “Who told you that? Our family’s always been this stressful. Hell, we’re usually _more_ stressful.”

“There is nothing about that I find reassuring.”

“Was I supposed to be reassuring you?”

Samandriel gave him a weak smile in response, but he was giving one of his earrings a distracted tug, his most notable nervous habit. “I just don’t want to get into another screaming match.”

“None of us do. They won’t bring up hunting if we don’t.”

“What are we supposed to talk about then? It’s not like we have much of a life outside of it.”

Cas shrugged. “I don’t know. We’ll go to the Candy Shop or something and talk about strippers.”

Dri snorted. “I was emailing Anna the other day; she told me Gabe’s got a couple male ones now.”

“I’m surprised it’s taken him this long, to be honest.”

“He probably scared off most of the applicants. He’s sort of a creep.”

They two of them laughed at that, and Cas was relieved to find that he was beginning to feel a bit less stressed out now, and felt he may have a chance at falling asleep again after all.

Dri seemed to be feeling the same way, as he yawned and made as though to lie back down again.

“Get some sleep, Dri. We’re going to want to hit the road pretty soon if we don’t want to have to rush back to Maine.”

Dri nodded and lay down, moving so one arm was under his pillow. Cas knew his hand was resting on top of one of his knives.

Castiel reached out and switched off the lamp one last time before lying down and falling asleep at last.

* * *

 

They left the little Wyoming town they’d been in at five-thirty that evening. They'd stopped for dinner first, and Cas noted with satisfaction that neither of them were nauseous. That made concussions unlikely, at least. It was impressive that they didn't feel sick, head injury or not; the diner sandwiches had been mediocre and the coffee too watered down. Samandriel had chugged down six cups of it anyway, with the resignation of someone who had learned not to expect any better. Castiel, whose taste buds were not quite as adaptive, only managed to choke down two.

The drive home to Maine was a long and boring one. Samandriel pointed out a little over halfway there that Balthazar would probably appreciate them bringing him a birthday present. ‘He’s selfish like that,’ Dri had said.

They’d pulled off the freeway into the next place that looked big enough to have a mall, drove around for half an hour, finally found a store, and then spent twenty minutes arguing over what to buy. They ended up walking away with a couple of bad action films from the bargain bin, agreeing that Balthazar enjoyed the cheesy special effects enough for it to be acceptable.

“It’s not as though Balthazar is all that fussy about presents,” Cas said as he tried to find his way back onto the freeway. “Honestly, we could give him a ball of twine and a box of matches and he’d be perfectly happy.”

“Let’s not do that,” Dri said, voice half warning, half amused. “He’d find a way to burn the whole house down.”

“This is Balthazar we’re talking about. He’d find a way to burn down the entire _town_.”

Dri chuckled. “Fair enough.”

The rest of the drive was uneventful once more, and they finally pulled up in front of their house around dinner time the day before Balthazar’s birthday.

They’d called about an hour beforehand, so the rest of the Novaks were expecting them. The two of them were tackled enthusiastically to the ground halfway to the door. Balthazar, Anna, and Gabriel yelled meaningless words, while Michael and Lucifer looked on with airs of superiority. They were obviously far too mature to take part in dog piles on their front lawn. Gabriel’s dog, Fenrir, barked at them from the porch.

They maneuvered into the house with a fair amount of impromptu wrestling and too much shouting for anyone to be heard over anyone else. In the living room they collapsed over each other onto the floor and the couch. No one paid attention to Michael’s shouted warning that they had better not break anything like they did the last time.

“You guys bring me anything?” was the first coherent thing Castiel heard, and it was, of course, from Balthazar, who was looking at him and Dri expectantly.

“No,” Samandriel said dryly. “We decided we’d come home and watch you pout about your lack of presents instead. Sounded far more fun.”

Balthazar looked between him and Cas with concern. “You’re joking, right? Cassie, he is joking, isn’t he? I can never tell.”

Dri rolled his eyes, and Cas shook his head in fond exasperation.

Which was the wrong move, as Balthazar ended up thinking the headshake was in response to his question.

“You two drove all the way out here and didn’t bring me anything back?” He made a point of turning away from them with a disappointed huff. “I’m hurt and I no longer consider either of you my brothers.”

Gabriel reached out, grabbed Balthazar around the waist, and pulled him back onto the couch. The taller man let out an undignified squawk.

“We brought you something, Balthazar,” Cas said once the two of them finished trying to pin each other to the furniture. “It’s still in the car.”

“You’re no fun, Cas,” Samandriel said. “I wanted to see him sulk for a little longer.”

“Sadist,” Balthazar said with a pout, shoving Gabriel off him again. Samandriel just stuck out his tongue.

Michael rolled his eyes and walked past them. “Dinner’s in twenty minutes, you guys. Try not to destroy the house between now and then.”

“Killjoy!” Gabriel called after him from where he and Balthazar were now attempting to pin each others’ arms behind their backs. Anna and Samandriel were watching with identical expressions of amused condescension.

Cast moved to take Michael’s place next to Lucifer before he got dragged into the wrestling match against his will.

“How have you been, Lucifer?” he asked, trying to keep his tone friendly. A disproportionate percentage of their family fights stemmed from badly placed words with Lucifer. And they weren't even all Cas and Dri's fault.

He shrugged. “About the same as usual. Finally got my place above the Pit all fixed up, so I’m there a lot more. I can actually sleep there again, without having to crash on a mattress on the floor.”

“Well, that’s good.” Lucifer had owned the Pit for awhile now, but he'd always focused on putting his money into the bar rather than his living area. Cas hesitated, debating whether his next question was worth the potential blowout. “Is Adam still working there?”

Lucifer fixed him with a cool gaze that made him gulp, though he tried to hide it. “Yes. He’s my best employee.”

_No kidding_. Cas just nodded. “Good to hear.” He’d let Samandriel know later, let him know he’d want to continue steering clear of the Pit.

“How about the two of you? Are you taking care of yourselves?”

Cas was a little offended. He’d been hunting for four years, had even been on his own for half that time, but whenever he came home he always got questions like that from his older siblings. “We’re doing well. We went fishing a couple of weeks ago.”

Lucifer raised an eyebrow. “Fishing? You got Dri to go fishing? Did he actually bait the hook and everything?”

Cas smiled at that. For someone who shot, stabbed, and chopped the heads off of things on a day-to-day basis, Samandriel was incredibly squeamish about the strangest things. “He griped for about an hour, before _and_ after.”

Lucifer didn’t need to know that they’d been fishing for a lake monster - an ahuizotl, they were fairly sure it had been - and that the griping afterwards had been because Dri had fallen out of their boat. Well, the thing had pulled him out and nearly drowned him. But Lucifer didn’t need to know that either.

Lucifer snorted. “When he was little, we thought he’d grow out of his complaining phase. I guess it wasn’t a phase.”

“I think Samandriel’s too stubborn to have phases. He’d have to admit he was wrong at some point, and you know how he is about that.”

“Stubborn bastard.”

“You two know that I can hear you, right?”

Cas and Lucifer looked up sheepishly to see Samandriel glaring at them while Balthazar, the apparent victor, helped Gabriel to his feet.

“Getting rusty in your old age?” he asked.

“Hey! I only lost because you’ve got these weirdo long limbs, you giant freak.”

“Whatever lets you sleep at night.”

“Damn right.”

“For fuck’s sake, could you all grow up?” Michael was standing in the kitchen doorway, looking exasperated, but Castiel was pleased to see he seemed amused too. Sometimes Michael looked like he was going to fall asleep on his feet, but that seemed to be happening less and less as time went by. Everyone’s paycheck helped out just a little bit more.

Cas sometimes felt guilty that he and Samandriel didn’t have one. They got most of their money from pool games and poker, which, while not always strictly speaking legal, wasn’t as bad as it could be. They had a few credit card scams going, the way a lot of hunters did, but Cas had never felt entirely comfortable doing that, so he kept it to a minimum as much as possible. Still, that meant that if the gambling hit a dry spell things could get tight fast. The family bank account was always open to them, but using it never failed to make Cas feel like a disappointing freeloader.

“No,” Anna replied to Michael’s question, tone mild. “This family isn’t capable of it.”

“ _I’ve_ managed.”

“You’re the oldest. The genes are in your favor.”

He rolled his eyes so hard it looked painful. “Well then, would one of you get in here and set the table?”

Samandriel pushed himself up from his place on the ground. “I will.”

Balthazar jumped up in a moment of sudden excitement. “Cassie! You should go get my present out of that ugly thing you call a car.”

“If you want me to give you things, you should stop insulting my car.”

Anna snorted. “Have you _seen_ your car? It makes you look like a pimp.”

“It does not,” Cas protested. “And I _like_ my car.”

“ _Anyway_ ,” Balthazar said, “I want my present.”

“Your birthday isn’t until tomorrow, you know that, don’t you?”

“Unimportant. You’re here now.”

“I’m not letting you open it yet.”

“I just want to look at it.”

“Weirdo.”

Balthazar gave him a cheesy and proud smile in response to that. Cas rolled his eyes and went out to his not ugly or pimp-like Cadillac to fetch the movies.

“It’s not wrapped, so don’t look,” he called out as he came back in the door.

“You didn’t wrap it? I’m not worth wrapping paper?”

“You’re not worth _buying_ wrapping paper. I’ll steal some from here, if it’ll make you shut up.”

“Steal it later, dinner’s ready,” Dri said, appearing in the doorway. “Michael made lasagna, and I, for one, was getting tired of diner sandwiches.”

“For God’s sake, you two,” Gabriel said as they all migrated to the table, “what’s the point of traveling across the country if you’re not going to visit good restaurants?”

“We’d love to Gabriel,” Samandriel told him. “Honest, but there’s this thing called money that we don’t have very much of, and most of it goes to gas and weapons.”

“Well, that’s your own fault, isn’t it?” Lucifer said, voice a little harsh, as they sat down.

The room got uncomfortably quiet fast. Michael set down the lasagna with a little more force than was necessary, and, loudly and pointedly, said, “How hungry is everyone?”

There was a murmur of response and they slowly worked their way back to a friendlier atmosphere throughout the meal, although Castiel knew they were all fully aware of the elephant in the room. Pretending to be unaware of its existence had always managed to work in the past - except for when it didn’t - and the Novaks seemed determined not to change their ways.

* * *

 

The next two days managed to be relatively pleasant. Balthazar had reacted to his birthday presents with his usual ridiculous exuberance. They all avoided the topic of hunting with great skill and minimal awkwardness. Cas and Dri were really starting to believe they might stay for another week or so. The two hunters were hanging out with Gabriel at the Candy Shop, having a few drinks together and enjoying some down time.

Michael had just about had an aneurysm when Gabriel had decided he was going to open a strip club a few years ago. Especially since they were still trying to pay off the bills and get the Pit on its feet at the time, but he had refused to be swayed. Now that a few years had gone by, it had proven to be a far more profitable investment than anyone would have guessed.

Also, Gabriel had all but adopted every single employee he had, and woe to anyone who thought that them being strippers meant they were somehow worth less. They’d already had to bail Gabriel out of jail for fighting twice.

“You changed the lighting,” Samandriel commented idly, looking around. Cas didn’t miss the way his gaze kept lingering for just a moment longer on some of the particularly muscular male strippers, and was doing his best to hide his smirk. Dri hadn’t gotten any real action in two years, and every now and then it showed. He didn’t appreciate being teased about it though.

“Carrie said the red made it seem trashy and cliché. Now that it’s different, I got to say, I agree. I think this works much better, don’t you?”

Cas shrugged. “Believe it or not, Gabriel, Samandriel and I don’t go to strip clubs often.”

“And if you did, they wouldn’t be as good as mine,” Gabriel said smugly. “I know there’s a reason you two prefer the Candy Shop to the Pit.”

Cas glanced nervously over at Dri, but he didn’t look interested in pursuing the subject. He’d heard it though, and was downing the rest of his drink just a little too quickly for Castiel’s taste. Samandriel wasn’t to the level of alcohol abuse that many hunters were famous for, but he was closer than Cas was. Considering Dri had been legally allowed to drink for less than a year, that was worrisome. Of course, most of their family had been smoking, drinking, and getting piercings and tattoos since before their teens, so it wasn’t surprising. Worrisome, but not surprising.

“Maybe we just don’t want to sit next to a bunch of hunters who haven’t showered since the last time they killed something.”

Gabriel snorted. “Lucifer would be crushed to hear it. He let the Pit become a hunter bar for you two, you know.”

“You’d think that would mean he’d be a little less aggressive about our hunting,” Samandriel muttered, voice drenched in bitterness.

Gabriel looked sympathetic, but cautious. He wasn’t as opposed to the hunting as Michael and Lucifer were, but he wasn’t thrilled with it either. Castiel began searching for a new topic to steer the conversation towards.

“I know they’re not exactly full steam ahead about it," Gabriel said, choosing his words slowly, "but, come on, it could be worse. We just worry about you two. You’re our baby brothers.”

Cas nodded. “We know that.” They’d tried to get their siblings out of that mindset before, convince them that the two of them could take care of themselves just fine, but it had only ever led to more arguments. Dri and Cas had agreed some time ago that it was best to just let the subject die.

Gabriel nodded back and took a swig of his beers, flashing a smile at one of his girls. “So, um… You two keep up on sports while you’re on the road?”

Samandriel dragged his gaze back from where he’d been ogling someone - not that he’d ever admit that was what he was doing - to raise an eyebrow at Gabriel. “You’re joking, right? We don’t keep up on sports when we’re _not_ on the road.”

“That’s because the two of you are a disgrace to the family name,” Gabriel replied airily.

Cas rolled his eyes. “You don’t keep up on sports either. Everything you know about football comes from watching over Lucifer and Michael’s shoulders and hearing them argue about the Chiefs versus the Lions.”

“Yeah,” Samandriel said in support. “The only thing _you_ watch is those dumb documentaries that are searching for Bigfoot or trying to prove the existence of aliens or whatever.”

“Excuse me? Dumb? Those documentaries are important scientific research. Really, I’d have thought you two would approve.”

“There’s no such thing as Bigfoot, Gabriel,” Cas said mildly.

“Oh, you say that now,” their older brother said haughtily, standing up with a flourish. “I’m going to get more beer.”

Samandriel took another swig of his drink and looked at Cas. “Who’s driving home?”

Cas looked over to where Gabriel was teetering a little at the bar, then down at the drinks he and Dri were holding. “I think… we’re going to need to call someone.”

* * *

 

One of Gabriel’s bartenders - Molly or Mary or Mandy or something, Cas could never remember - ended up giving them a lift. She spent the whole drive rolling her eyes and saying ‘uh-huh, sure thing, boss,’ every time Gabriel promised her a raise. She dropped them off at a quarter to one and left for home, shaking her head and muttering something about how she had no idea how that man was capable of running a business. Cas thought it was a mystery to all.

Lucifer and Michael were lounging around the living room when they came in, looking bored and flipping through the channels on the TV. Normally they would have been arguing over what to watch, but when the only option was the infomercial for window latches versus the infomercial for door stops, there wasn’t much point in fighting. Even for them.

Michael didn’t move to acknowledge their arrival, but Lucifer nodded a vague greeting. “Nice night drinking?”

Gabriel chuckled, despite there not being anything terribly funny happening. “We had a good time. They told me Bigfoot and aliens didn’t exist, but it was a good time anyway.”

“What bastards,” Lucifer said, clearly only half listening.

Gabriel didn’t notice, and nodded enthusiastically. “Damn right, those bastards.” He swayed a little on his feet and stared down at the carpet for a long moment. “…I think I’m going to go to bed now.”

“Good thinking.”

Gabriel staggered off while Dri and Cas watched with thinly veiled amusement.

“How much did he drink?” Michael asked, moving to look at them at last.

Samandriel shrugged, leaning back against a wall for support. He was a little unsteady too. “You know Gabriel. He doesn’t stop until someone makes him, and when he’s the boss of the people serving the alcohol there’s not too many people going to cut him off.”

“Or the two of you, apparently.”

“We’re not that drunk,” Cas said defensively. “A little tipsy, I guess, but not bad.”

“At least tell me the three of you had enough sense to not drive home like this.”

Samandriel rolled his eyes. “ _Yes._ We aren’t suicidal idiots, you know.”

“Sometimes I wonder.”

“Michael…” Cas warned. This was always how it started, it seemed, and Cas had been having a pretty good night so far. He’d rather it not get wrecked.

Michael rolled his eyes, shook his head, and turned his focus back to the television, which was now informing him that it was impossible to cook an egg without this exciting new product that looked like something that would have been used as alien technology in an old Star Trek episode.

Lucifer, however, decided to take up the gauntlet. “You don’t exactly go around avoiding deathly situations, now do you?”

“Lucifer…” Castiel’s tone was bordering on pleading now.

Samandriel, who had a bad temper at the best of times and it only got worse when he drank, didn’t care about Castiel’s desire to avoid a confrontation. “Do you really have to start this up again? We’re not going to stop because you can’t stop thinking about us as a couple of elementary school students. We can take care of ourselves. We’ve been doing it for two fucking years now.”

Both Lucifer and Michael got to their feet and wheeled to face him. Castiel moved protectively to his younger brother’s side.

“Is that supposed to make us feel better?” Michael snarled. “You two, going out there, playing tag with the things we all swore we weren’t going to go near, getting this idea that you’re invincible?”

“And every time you _don’t_ get killed it just convinces you more that nothing’s going to be able to beat you,” Lucifer said. Castiel had nearly forgotten what a formidable team they were when they managed to agree on something.

“Which just makes you take worse and worse risks,” Michael continued. “And what if something _does_ happen? Who’s going to tell us? You two could be bleeding out in the middle of nowhere at any given time, and there isn’t a damn thing we’d be able to do about it!”

“Well, if you’d quit yelling at us,” Cas said, volume only a notch or two below shouting, “maybe we’d call home more often and we’d tell you we were fine!”

“Or if you’d actually let us talk about hunting without acting like we’re plotting a ritual sacrifice or something!” Samandriel chimed in, and he _was_ shouting. “Why the hell would we like coming to visit when all you do is try to convince us we’re being stupid and wasting our lives and our potential and all the rest of that garbage you keep shoving at us?”

“We are _trying_ to look out for you!” Michael yelled.

“We don’t need you to!”

“For fuck’s sake, Samandriel, would you grow up for two seconds? You - both of you - are going to get yourselves killed, and you’re asking us to be okay with it!”

“But we’re _not_!” Castiel’s voice was shaking now. “We’re careful, we look out for each other, and we are _adults_ , you don’t get to boss us around like we’re teenagers trying to sneak out on a school night!”

_“Castiel!”_

_“_ What’s going on?”

All four of them turned to see that Gabriel had reappeared in the hallway, Balthazar just a few steps behind him, and the dog hiding behind his legs, all clearly having just woken up. Anna was out with a friend, or else she’d have undoubtedly been there too. Cas wished she was. Being the only girl amongst six boys had made her an expert at knocking sense into them.

“Our younger brothers-” Lucifer made an exaggerated hand gesture in their direction “-are back to insisting that what they’re doing when they’re not here isn’t dangerous.”

“We never said that!”

“You’re telling us not to worry, that’s damn close enough!”

“We’re telling you to stop nagging at us about it! Believe it or not, we don’t enjoy these arguments.”

“Then maybe you should reconsider your career paths.”

Castiel had heard enough. “Dri.”

“Yep.”

They both strode down the hall to the room they had shared since they were toddlers, grabbed their bags, and left the house. Balthazar and Gabriel looked on in shocked and slightly confused silence. Lucifer and Michael continued to fume.

They got into Castiel’s Cadillac. He turned the ignition, not sparing any thought to the fact that he still wasn’t entirely sober, and peeled out with a loud squeal of tires against the pavement.


	2. Gotta Clean Up Your Looks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There’s nothing quite like a hunt to get a hunter’s mind off their troubles. Of course, that’s mostly because hunts come with plenty enough troubles of their own.

They drove for a little over an hour before pulling off the road and checking into a motel as their anger-fueled adrenaline faded. The man behind the counter had been half asleep and clearly thought they were insane for showing up in the middle of the night. Nonetheless, he kept the talking to a minimum and didn’t make any snarky comments, which was fortunate for him. Neither of the Novaks were in the mood for a conversation, and if the man had challenged them one of them would have likely punched him out. Dri knew that he would have, at least.

Samandriel trailed behind Castiel as they hauled their bags into the room and set their weapons of choice under their pillows, as always. Even when a little drunk and tired, they knew to be careful. Things didn’t stop wanting to kill you just because you weren’t feeling well or were in a bad mood. In fact, such things usually encouraged them. Dri was still fuming about Lucifer and Michael, but all the anger seemed to have drained out of Castiel. Now he just looked tired and resigned; his shoulders slumped. Samandriel considered apologizing for the fight, but Cas had been just as involved as him and he wasn’t really sorry about it anyway. He had a strict policy of not apologizing when he didn’t mean it.

He shook his head to himself as he pulled off his sneakers. “Dicks,” he muttered under his breath, thinking it would be too quiet for Cas to overhear.

It wasn’t. Castiel huffed in exasperation and threw himself down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. “God, our family’s difficult.”

“That’s putting it lightly.”

Cas shut his eyes and rubbed at his temples, and Dri wondered if the headache came from stress, lack of sleep, or the alcohol. “One of these days they’ll loosen up,” he said. Dri was pretty sure Cas was trying to convince himself just as much as he was trying to reassure Samandriel. Maybe more so.

Dri was skeptical, and still drunk enough to not censor himself. Not that he did a lot of censoring when sober either, the alcohol just gave him a convenient excuse. He snorted. “You’ve been hunting for four years now. If they haven’t loosened up yet, I don’t think they’re going to anytime soon.”

“They all but disowned me for the first year or so,” Cas pointed out. “You remember. You were the only one that ever tried to call me. Even _Anna_ wouldn’t talk to me, they were so pissed.”

“Not that my calling did any good. You wouldn’t pick up your phone. By the time you finally called home again I thought you were _dead._ ”

Cas rolled his eyes. “Don’t be a drama queen, it wasn’t that bad. Anyway, my _point_ was that they’ve loosened up some. They just… Need to keep working on it.”

Dri remembered that. He also remembered that there had been a significant step backwards in the process after he had left to hunt with Cas, two years ago. It hadn’t been so bad for the ten months or so between Cas being allowed home again and Dri joining up with him, but the youngest Novak jumping into the fray had apparently been too much for the older ones to tolerate. Making Cas stop had almost been given up as a lost cause, but they were still holding out hope for Samandriel. After all, _he_ hadn’t started because of an insane need for vengeance.

Dri sighed. “Well, let’s hope they work on it quickly. I love going home and all, but…”

“Yeah,” Cas agreed quietly. “I know.”

Dri rubbed his eyes and debated about whether or not he wanted to just sleep in his clothes. He couldn’t remember where his sweats were, and if they required any effort to find at all, they weren’t worth it. It was cold out and the heating in the motel was shabby if Dri was being generous, so stripping down to boxers and the t-shirt he was wearing under his hoodie wasn’t a viable option. Still, his jeans were kind of tight to be sleeping in. The last time he’d done it he’d woken up at three-thirty in the morning with his left leg asleep from the knee down. He’d fallen over and broken an alarm clock getting out of bed, and Cas had teased him for two days, until Dri had started swapping his coffee out for decaf as revenge.

Castiel stood up, took a drink straight from the sink - a bold move, Dri wasn’t sure he’d trust the water here - and got into bed. He was still in his clothes, which made Dri’s mind up for him. “Turn off the lights, would you? I’m tired and I think I might have a hangover in the morning.”

“Lightweight," Dri replied as he reached for the switch.

“Yeah. Whatever. Goodnight, Dri. We’ll try to find ourselves a hunt in the morning, okay? That’ll give us something to focus on.”

Undeniably the best thing about hunting was the way there was no need to think about things while killing other things. Perhaps it wasn’t the healthiest thing in the world, but Dri found it therapeutic. He ran his fingers through his hair, tugging on the ends, then reached out and hit the lights. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to go to sleep yet, despite it being past two. He never seemed to sleep much anyway, and he couldn’t quite seem to manage to turn his brain off.

He wished Cas hadn’t so easily brushed off his comment about having thought Cas was dead, because he hadn’t been being dramatic. That year of Cas - grief-stricken, emotional, reckless Cas - being gone had been one of the worst of Dri’s life. He’d called Cas everyday for a month, at which point the number was disconnected because no one had paid the phone bill. Dri was left to sit up at night wondering if his brother was lying dead in a ditch or a cave somewhere, or if what was left of him was littering the floor of some monster’s lair. He couldn’t tell Cas about that though. Every time he tried the words began to stick in his throat and the memory of how lonely and scared he’d been threatened to bring tears to his eyes.

Dri got under the blankets and buried his face in the pillow, trying to get to sleep and not think about Castiel, or Michael and Lucifer, or anything at all.

* * *

 

Dri woke up the next morning to the sounds of Cas talking to Anna on the phone. He didn’t get up right away, instead he remained still and shamelessly eavesdropped on the conversation. It seemed like the only way he ever found out anything interesting. It probably wasn’t necessary at the moment, but old habits die hard.

“I don’t care what they _meant_ , Anna. They don’t need to treat the two of us like-” There was a brief pause as Anna cut him off. “Yes, I know they’re worried. I’m not asking them to stop. I just want them to stop nagging us all the time.”

Another pause, and Anna’s voice got loud enough that Samandriel could hear her, though he couldn’t make out any of her words.

“That doesn’t mean they have to act like we’re children!”

“Anna, for fuck’s sake, not you too.”

The next pause was longer, and Anna’s voice got quieter again.

“Yeah. Yeah, we’ll see. Yeah, we’ll stay in touch. Don’t worry. Love you too, Anna. Bye.”

Samandriel sat up without bothering to pretend he’d only just woken up. If Cas had cared about him overhearing, he would have taken the call outside. “How mad is everyone?”

Cas shrugged, tossing his phone back on the bed and reaching for a shirt. His dark hair was wet, bangs hanging limply down into his eyes, and he’d only gotten as far as his jeans in the dressing process before Anna called. “No madder than usual, although I guess that’s not really saying a whole lot. Balthazar’s mostly just mad at Michael and Lucifer for bringing it up, I guess, and Gabriel’s just trying to stay out of it as best he can. Anna’s a little annoyed with us for not avoiding an argument, but she gets that Michael and Lucifer don’t make it easy.” He tugged the shirt over his head, pulled on a pair of socks, and started rummaging for his laptop and its charger. “Go shower, we’ll leave as soon as we find a hunt to go after.”

Dri nodded and got up to obey. The shower wasn’t fantastic, but the water stayed at least lukewarm the whole time he was in it, so he’d certainly had worse. And the pressure was pretty good. It was better than a trickle, but not so strong that he feared for his life. It was a sad testimony to his life that his general method for evaluating the quality of his day was by comparing showers and food to previous experiences. He clearly had used far too many showers.

As he got dressed afterward, Cas snapped his fingers to get his attention.

“How do you feel about Vermont?”

Dri stared at him for a moment to see if he would elaborate. He didn’t. “…I hear they have good skiing?”

Cas looked at him like he was being purposefully and obnoxiously ignorant. Purposefully obnoxious Dri was willing to admit to, but he really had no idea what Cas was talking about. Cas pointed to his computer screen. “They also recently earned a very high missing persons rate. Looks like it started about six months ago.”

Dri moved to look over his shoulder at the articles Cas had pulled up. “Where in Vermont?”

“The area around Burlington, looks like. But they people have been from all over. No similarities across all the victims that I can see. It’s been mostly adults, only two kids have vanished - without a trace like this, anyway - but there’s been college students, adults, rich, poor, even people who were just visiting or passing through. They just disappear.”

“Anyone have any leads?”

“Doesn’t look like it. I don’t think anyone’s really connected the dots between all of them yet, to be honest. Probably all too busy arguing about jurisdiction or something.”

“Feds then?”

“Sounds easiest.”

Dri gave a wry smile and tapped his right forearm. “Guess I have to cover these up, huh?”

“I warned you that tattoo sleeves would make it hard for you to look professional before you got them.”

“That’s a stupid stereotype, influenced by poor media portrayals.”

“It being stupid doesn’t make it any less true that you can’t pretend to be an FBI agent with tattoo sleeves and piercings.”

Castiel had kept most of his tattoos to his torso, primarily his back, unlike Samandriel, who had decked out his arms. They both had wing tattoos stretched out across their backs, something they’d each added after starting to hunt, some Latin phrases, and the anti-possession tattoos any hunter worth their salt got, but their tattoos didn’t resemble each other’s much beyond that. Dri was proud of his tattoos, but he did have to admit - to himself, at least - that they sometimes made cover stories a pain in the ass. He had to be careful not to push his sleeves up if he was supposed to be looking professional. Which was unfortunate, as it was his favorite style. He didn’t like having things tight around his wrists, even shirt sleeves.

“How far to Vermont?”

“About six or seven hours. You want to do it one haul?”

“Might as well. Let’s stop for breakfast on the way out though.”

“Of course.”

They found the cheapest, seediest breakfast place they could, since money was running low. Dri suggested they split the drive up after all and stop somewhere for some gambling and try to put a little extra money in their pockets.

Cas got a cheeseburger despite the fact that it wasn’t even noon yet and the cheese was an odd shade of gray. Samandriel got a stack of pancakes and drowned them in strawberry syrup so he didn’t have to find out what they tasted like. Even the worst restaurants generally couldn’t fuck up syrup. Cas smiled, rolled his eyes, and commented on how Dri had inherited Gabe’s sweet tooth.

When they climbed back into Castiel’s car it was approaching early afternoon, and they agreed to drive until they were in the mood for dinner, get some money at a bar or wherever else they could manage to find some, crash for the night, and finish the remaining hour or two they would have in the morning.

Dinner wasn’t too awful; their sandwiches were cold in the middle, but everything tasted like it was supposed to and the fries were fantastic.

The bar they found wasn’t much different than every other dive they went into. They walked in side by side, listening for the commentary that almost always greeted them, just barely not under the breath of the bar’s other patrons.

“Skinny-ass white boys in tattoos,” someone said, snickering. Dri turned his head to track the source to a middle-aged man who was certainly less skinny but no less white, sporting some tattoos of his own and a beard that needed a good wash. Dri wasn’t opposed to beards, some people looked drop-dead sexy in them as far as he was concerned, but this guy couldn’t pull his off.

Dri made sure the scowl he wanted to be wearing was replaced with a nervous expression and wide eyes, shooting darting glances at the pool table, just enough to plant the idea.

It worked like a charm. The man strode up to them, a woman closer to Cas and Dri’s age than to his own on his arm, giggling. In short, the perfect hustling target.

“You two boys want to play some pool?”

Dri, well-aware that he was the cuter and more easily underestimated one between him and his brother, bit his lip and looked up at the man shyly. “I’d like to sure. You?” He made a show of glancing over his shoulder at Castiel, as though he had no idea how Cas felt about pool.

Cas nodded, his innocent look not quite as perfected as Dri’s, but still functional. “I don’t know if we’d give you a very good game though.”

The man waved off Cas’ concern. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll keep the betting small.”

Dri shook his head. “Oh, you don’t need to do that. We wouldn’t want you to waste your time. What do you think, a hundred?”

The man smiled, probably unable to believe his good look, and agreed.

Dri and Cas bolted for the parking lot with an extra two hundred and fifty in their wallets an hour later, laughing to each other.

“We’re going to get jumped for doing that one of these days,” Cas said as they climbed back in the car and went off in search of a motel, but he didn’t sound legitimately concerned.

Dri shrugged, leaning back in his seat with a contented sigh and reaching out to turn up the stereo, as the beginning of _Loverboy_ came through the speakers. “I’d like to see someone try. Hey, if they do, can we steal their wallets after we beat the shit out of them? You know, compensation payments.”

Cas rolled his eyes, but didn’t say no, so Samandriel figured it must not fall into the black area of Castiel’s moral scale. That was close enough to a yes for him to be content. He didn’t see why there would be an issue, eye for an eye and all that. Taking the money sounded like the only fair thing to do in such a situation, in his opinion.

* * *

 

They entered a police station in Burlington to begin asking questions just before nine the next morning, having left their motel early on account of some highly disrespectful neighbors. Dri, as usual, was a half-step behind Cas, and, as usual, felt a little off-balance from the suit, the properly brushed back hair, and the sudden lack of metal in his ears. He didn’t much care for pretending to be a federal agent. It was the only part of hunting he felt he would be much happier without. He’d take the crappy diners without complaint if he could skip this part.

Cas flashed his badge out first, and Dri followed suit, letting Cas take the lead for the time being. He was better at pretending to be young and innocent for hustling purposes, Cas was better at pretending to be professional and from the government. Balthazar said it was probably the squint.

“Agents Hurley and Bryar, FBI. We’re here about the increasing number of missing persons reports in this area.”

The sheriff who had come to greet them nodded, looking somber. “I wondered if we’d be getting a visit from your people eventually.” He sighed. “I wish I could help you boys, I really do, but I’m at a total loss here. Every missing person report that’s come across my desk; I do all the standard interviews, go over the last places they were seen with a fine-toothed comb. Never find anything, and it seems that every time the trail seems to have gone completely cold, someone new disappears.”

That had been about what they’d expected. “Can you get us their files, at least?” Samandriel asked. “Victim profiles, where they disappeared, that sort of thing?”

The sheriff nodded. “Of course. I can email them to you?”

Cas nodded and wrote down the faux email address they had specifically for these circumstances. “We appreciate your help, Sheriff.”

The man tucked the paper into his pocket and nodded again. “Anything I can do. Just wish I had more information for the two of you.”

Cas and Dri made to leave, but the man called them back. “Would you two… Could you let me know if you find anything? A lot of these people were my responsibility, I’d like to know what happened to them.”

Cas looked at him sympathetically. “We’ll be sure to do that, Sheriff. Thank you.”

They left the building, heading back for the corner where they’d parked. They generally tried to keep the car out of sight of the police station for the first meeting; police officers tended to raise an eyebrow when two people claiming to be FBI agents climbed out of a car that was blasting rap music and looked like it was more suited to belong to a pimp. Not that Dri ever voiced that opinion out loud. Cas was probably aware of it, but he didn’t like being teased for it. Men and their cars. Dri was glad he’d never owned one.

“I didn’t expect him to know much, but that was even less helpful that I thought it’d be,” Samandriel said, opening the passenger side door.

Cas nodded, biting his lip as he looked distractedly out the window. “Whatever is doing this, it’s stealthy. And it’s smart. Any ideas?”

Dri shook his head. “Without bodies to go off of? I’ve got nothing. If there were less missing people I’d think maybe demons or somebody doing some sort of sacrifice, but there’s been too many disappearances for that to be likely. Maybe if there were other signs of demonic activity around, but there isn’t. You?”

“No theories yet.” He turned the key and the car’s engine rumbled to life. “Maybe we’ll find something in those files.”

“We should check out the first victim first. Ground zero, right?”

“Right.”

They drove back to the hotel without saying much else. Without any leads, there wasn’t anything to say about the hunt, and that’s where both their minds were.

The sheriff must have gone to email the files the moment they had left the station, because when Castiel opened his laptop and went to the email, they were already there, waiting for him.

“He must be obsessing about this,” Cas said. “He’s got to have had all those files in one place to get these to us so fast.”

Dri got out his own computer and the two of them split the files between them. They'd spent the first four months of their partnership arguing over who got to use Castiel's computer, before finally breaking down and buying a new one. It sure was a lot easier than trying to do research in a public library. Dri opened up the file of one Blaine Rivet, the first person to go missing, six months ago.

“Anything in there?” Cas asked after only a couple minutes.

“Still looking.”

Blaine Rivet. Forty-one years old. Last seen September twenty-eighth, at five-thirty in the afternoon, as he got into his car to leave work. Sometime in his nine mile commute home, he disappeared. He hadn’t been seen or heard from since, his car hadn’t been found; it was if he had just ceased to exist entirely.

After about fifteen minutes of looking over files, Cas went out to find a map of the area. When he returned, they pinned it up on the wall and began marking it up with pushpins and strings to see if there was any correlation in the areas of disappearance.

Cas sighed an hour and a half later, pushing his hair back and out of his eyes. “We don’t even know for sure that they all were taken by the same thing.”

“Most of them must have been,” Dri said, tying one last string between two pushpins. “No sign of their cars or use of credit cards or anything. That’s pretty rare. And didn’t you tell me once that hunters can’t believe in coincidence because it’ll get them killed or make them miss things?”

Cas sighed. “I did say that, didn’t I?”

“And I think it’s worked out pretty well for the two of us so far.”

“All right. Let’s look at this again.” Cas approached the map, eyes narrowed in concentration. “Is anything jumping out at you?”

“Not really. But I figure, if that many people are vanishing without a trace, they at least have to be keeping the cars somewhere, right? Certain things can get rid of bodies; they could be being turned into something, or they could even just be left out for wild animals to take care of, but a car is kind of harder to hide. And a lot of these people went missing along with their cars.”

“Okay. Let’s see if we can find anywhere to hide that many cars in our area.” Cas dragged his computer over so he could compare it with the map. “If you were a soulless abomination, is there anywhere on that map you’d keep the cars of your victims?”

Dri laughed, but studied the area once more. “There’s lots of wooded areas, but I think it’d be hard to get a car through there. Check around national parks and stuff, see where you can take a car. Maybe there’s a road they took to get in before they went deep into the trees.”

Even as he began typing, Castiel was shaking his head. “What kind of monster bothers to hide evidence?”

Dri shrugged. “Guess we can chalk it up to evolution and adaptation. They’ve had to get smart, it’s not easy to be a monster these days.”

“Feeling bad for them, little brother?”

He grinned wickedly. “Not even a little.”

* * *

 

The next morning, after breakfast, the two of them climbed back in the car and started making their way to the first of the five possible dumpsites they’d picked out the night before. Samandriel was in shotgun, as per usual, a list of the cars they were trying to find in his lap. It would only take one or two of them to get a really solid lead on what was going on, or at least a general location to search for clues in.

In the end, it took them until they reached their third site and the sun was beginning to slant down, throwing orange reflections off the surface of every mirror and window, before they found what they were looking for. They'd have missed it altogether if it weren't for the glare of sunlight reflecting off a silver metal door and into Cas' eyes.

They found eleven cars, hidden in the safety of some trees, most of them scratched up as though there’d been a slight struggle, but none of them so badly damaged that they could never be driven again. They had all clearly been parked or moved there without any care to how they would be moved again. Nobody was planning to go back for the vehicles, that much was obvious. They were here to be hidden, not to be retrieved at some point.

Cas and Dri left their car with the others and struck out on foot, hoping that whatever had stashed the cars there wasn’t too far away and they weren’t going off on some sort of wild goose chase.

“You know, in hindsight, it might have been a good idea to come back in the morning,” Dri said after they’d walked for nearly an hour and the area was now well and truly dark. They’d thought to bring flashlights, but Dri felt that they were woefully inadequate against the dense trees. Especially when one considered that most monsters fared better at night than in the daytime, and could usually see quite well in the dark.

“What’s wrong? Scared something will jump out and get you?”

Dri rolled his eyes. “I’m not _scared_. I’m also not stupid. Wandering around the woods in the middle of the night looking for monsters just sounds like a good and unnecessary way for us to get ourselves killed.”

“You’ve been watching too many badly written horror films.”

“Hey, it was that or some weird Spanish soap opera,” Dri told him defensively, knowing that Cas was referring to how he’d come out of the shower that morning to find Dri watching a movie involving gigantic CGI spiders and people screaming when they should have been running.

“What was the soap opera about?”

“I don’t know. Everyone was crying and I caught the name Ricardo. I changed the channel.”

“You’re too fussy about TV shows for your- Do you hear that?”

Samandriel paused mid-step, tilting his head to listen better. “What am I listening for?” he asked after a minute went past without him hearing anything beside his and Castiel’s own breathing.

“I’m not sure. Sounded like people moving around… Come on, this way.”

Cas took the lead, Dri dogging his steps as they kept going, taking care to step quietly as they went so as not to alert whatever it was to their presence. A few more minutes passed in silence, Samandriel still failing to hear anything, and he was about to accuse Castiel of hearing things that weren’t there and getting them lost when they stepped past a tree line and nearly walked right into the center of a nest.

“What the hell-?” Dri said after they stumbled back, ducking for cover before the things could notice their flashlights. At least, Samandriel was hoping they hadn’t noticed. His two knives, his handgun, and Castiel’s shotgun were feeling really insignificant right about now. This had been intended as reconnaissance, not an actual fight. They were saving that for when they actually knew what they were going up against.

“Good question.” More cautious now, Cas crept around the tree line, flashlight off and hands on his gun, ready to bring it up in defense if necessary. Dri switched his flashlight off too and tightened his grip on the handle of one of his knives.

“Vampires?” he asked as they observed, noticing the fangs a few of them were sporting.

Castiel nodded. “Looks like it. Lots and lots of vampires.”

Dri bit his lip. “That’s one _hell_ of a nest.” There had to have been over a hundred of them, at least, swarming around like ants around an anthill. They were close enough for Dri to recognize a few from their missing person files. “They’ve been abducting people to turn them and grow their nest,” he said, mostly thinking aloud. He was both amazed and disgusted by the realization.

“And something tells me it’s just going to keep getting bigger,” Cas said grimly, and Dri turned to see him creeping closer for a better look.

“Yeah, I agree. We should get out of here, Cas. We’re not ready to deal with a nest this size. We need to stock up on weapons.” Dri looked over his shoulder at the vampires, which seemed to consist of every missing person from the last six months, and then some.

Cas watched for a moment longer, long enough for Dri to worry he was going to have to physically drag his brother away from the nest and back to the car, but then the older Novak turned back around and they made their way back through the trees to the car. Dri was grateful for their good sense of direction.

They didn’t have anything to say until they returned to the motel. They’d looked at each other a few times during the walk to the car and during the drive, but words failed them both.

Dri shook his head as Cas was brushing his teeth. “What the hell are that many vampires doing in one place? And they’re not even eating anyone! There haven’t been any strange deaths that could be a vampire, I checked for weird deaths before we got here.”

Cas shrugged, rinsing his mouth out. “How should I know? I’ve never fought more than a handful of vampires at a time before. I’m amazed that that many vampires _exist_ , let alone all live in the same place.”

Dri changed into his sweats and peeled off his sweatshirt. “Good thing we brought the machetes, huh?”

“I’ll say. Looks like we’re going to be doing a lot of decapitating in the very near future.”

Dri flopped back on the bed, exhausted from hiking around the woods in the dark. “We’re going to be here a while.”


	3. The Awful Names That They Stick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam Winchester looks at his life, looks at his choices. He regrets most of them.

"Any idea what it is yet?" Dean asked. He shrugged into his jacket and reached for his keys.

Sam shook his head, snapped his laptop shut, and shoved it into his bag as he readied to go. "Not yet. There's not really much to go off of in the papers, you know? And we don't even know if it's still there, whatever it is. Or was. I called the police department there, they say the disappearance rate has gone almost back to normal again over the last month."

"Yeah, well, 'almost' isn't good enough for me. We're still going to check it out. Where' s Benny?"

"Throwing stuff in the car. You know he likes to get moving in a hurry."

"I'd think you'd be glad about that, considering how often you stand in the doorway and yell at me to get going."

"If you didn't spend twenty minutes gargling mouthwash, I wouldn't have to."

"Personal hygiene, Sam. Very important. You should try it sometime, save us from your bad breath."

"You two done primping and prepping, or do I need to leave you alone a bit longer?" a voice with a strong southern drawl asked. The two of them looked up to see Benny standing in the doorway, watching them with a look of long-suffering amusement.

"We're coming," Dean told him. He grabbed his bag and moved for the door. Sam followed suit. "Christ, you'd think being immortal would give you some patience."

"Nope. Just gave me lots of experience that taught me when not to put up with bullshit. Come on."

"Are all vampires this pushy, or is it just the ones I know?"

"You're the one who wanted to keep him, Dean," Sam said with a smirk as they made their way to the parking lot.

"Oh, so I'm just the puppy you brought home?"

"More like his personal slave chef," Sam said, nudging Benny's arm with a chuckle. The two of them exchanged grins and looked at Dean, who climbed into the driver's seat with an eye roll.

"I knew you only kept me around for my cooking," Benny said, pretending to have gotten his feelings hurt.

Sam and Benny both got in the car and Dean started the engine. "You offered to save us from an eternity of diner food, Benny. And you make Dean pie. There's no escape for you now."

"It's a cruel fate you've left me to. Maybe you should have taken my head off after all."

"Shut up, you two," Dean said. Before either of them could respond, he reached out and turned up the stereo until Metallica was blasting loudly enough to drown out anymore conversations between the passenger seat and the back.

Sam laughed, glancing in the rearview mirror to see that Benny was laughing too. He'd fought Dean tooth and nail about making nice with a vampire, but it had worked out shockingly well. Once Sam had convinced Benny to quit trying for the front seat, at least. Benny had eventually shrugged, said it was easier to sleep in the back anyway, and stopped bringing it up. He was incredibly mellow and non-confrontational for a monster, so long as Sam and Dean didn't make too many blood-sucking jokes. They saved them for special occasions now.

It took them just under two hours to make it the rest of the way to Burlington. The day was overcast, meaning they wouldn’t have to worry about Benny and the sun, which was definitely the most inconvenient thing about having a vampire for a teammate, in Sam's opinion. He also suspected Benny used it to his advantage to make Sam and Dean run errands during the day.

Sam and Benny set up in their motel room while Dean went to talk to the local police department. Sam didn't expect that he'd learn anything new or helpful, but it was usually a good idea to be introduced to the local law enforcement _before_ showing up at a crime scene. Cut down significantly on the number of times they were almost arrested. Or actually arrested.

Dean returned just under an hour later, minus the lunch he was supposed to pick up for them, looking pensive.

"Did you get lost on your way to KFC?" Sam asked. When Dean just looked puzzled, Sam gestured to Dean's empty hands and around the room to indicate the severe lack of food in the motel. As if to gloat that he didn't have to deal with the same restrictions as them, Benny opened the cooler he kept his blood in and started drinking. Sam gave him a look of disgust, but Benny just looked pleased with himself. He knew Sam and Dean found watching him drink blood to be disgusting and he very much did not care.

"Oh," Dean said, realizing what Sam was talking about at last. "No. Sorry, I'll go get something later. Got distracted."

"And yet you made it back before sunset. Should I be impressed or concerned?"

"Huh? No, Sam, it wasn't a girl! God, we're working, what do you think I am? Just a mindless slave to sex and passion?"

"Sounds believable to me," Benny chimed in helpfully.

"Nobody asked you."

"All right, all right," Sam broke in before they had the change to turn it into a real argument. "If it wasn't a girl, what happened?"

"I think we've got some competition."

Sam raised an eyebrow and waited for Dean to elaborate, finally prompting when his brother remained silent. "Competition?"

"Other hunters. Sheriff said two other FBI agents showed up a month ago, same story."

"Then maybe they've already taken care of whatever was here. I told you the disappearances have been getting less frequent."

Dean shook his head. "Sheriff says the guys are still in town. If they're hunters, they've been here for a month. So, they're probably not very good at their jobs, whichever they are."

"I don't suppose you asked the sheriff where we could find them?" Benny asked, finishing up his blood packet and standing to throw it away. Sometimes Sam tried to imagine what the maid thought when they emptied the trash after Sam, Dean, and Benny had cleared out. Blood packets couldn't be a normal thing to find in a motel room, no matter how seedy.

"He wasn't sure, but he said there's this diner they like to go to for lunch. It's around the corner from here. I talked to the lady who owns it and she says they don't look like feds to her, but apparently it's their favorite place to go for lunch."

Sam glanced up at the clock. Twelve-fifteen. "Well, you two hungry?"

"We're going to try and track down two guys who are either federal agents and want to arrest us, or else hunters in the middle of a job?" Benny asked, unenthused. "The first one's idiotic, and I thought hunters didn't intrude on each other's territory?"

Dean scoffed. "It's not intruding if they've been here for a month and there's still a problem. It's doing their job for them."

"Right. I'm sure they'll appreciate that much more."

"If it's taken them a month to fail at killing something, I don't really care if they appreciate it."

"If we think they're idiots, how come we're going looking for them?"

"In the hopes that they've found out _something_ useful," Dean told him. "Now come on, I'm hungry."

Sam followed Dean and Benny out of the motel room and towards the diner - it was close enough for the car to be unnecessary, and still gloomy enough to not have to worry about Benny - feeling more than a little anxious about the prospect of running into two other hunters. There were a handful of others that Sam trusted watching his and his brother's backs, but they were few and far between and it usually took a few hunts for him to get to that point.

Most hunters were stand-offish, untrustworthy, and had a tendency to cause Sam and Dean more trouble than the monsters. Now that Benny had joined up with them, Sam could imagine that the problem would only get worse. Word hadn't yet got out that the Winchesters hunted with a vampire, but it was bound to eventually, and Sam doubted they'd find too many friends in their corner when that day came.

* * *

 

They took seats in the diner with good views of the door, watching for anyone who looked like either a hunter or a fed. Or a hunter pretending to be a fed. When their food arrived twenty minutes later, there was still no sign of who they were looking for, but Dean nudged Sam's arm and pointed toward the door. "Check out these guys."

Sam followed his stare to see two men who had just walked in. Definitely not hunters or FBI, but they were certainly eye-catching. The older and taller of the two had dark hair and Sam could see a tattoo curling up his neck from under his shirt. The other one's shirt sleeves were rolled up above his elbows, and there was hardly an inch of skin to be seen on either of his arms they were so covered in tattoos. Both of them had at least three earrings in each ear, and Sam thought the dark-haired one might be wearing eyeliner. Sam looked back at Dean with a raised eyebrow.

"Right?" Dean said with a chuckle. "Bet they have a fun time trying to get work. Look at their ears, Sam! God, that's gotta be heavy, right?"

"Wonder how often they set off metal detectors," Benny commented, smirking as the two men sat down in one of the booths across the diner and gave their orders to the waitress without giving the menus a glance. They must have been regulars.

More for lack of anything better to do than out of any real animosity, Benny and the Winchesters kept finding new jokes to make about the tattoos and the piercings of the two men that were really none of their business.

At one point, the waitress appeared to check that they had everything they needed and to  clear their plates away. Dean put in a request for a piece of pie as dessert. Sam looked up to thank her as she left, and jumped when he found himself making direct eye contact with the younger of the two men from across the room. If he could be counted as a man. The guy probably got carded every time he got alcohol, and it was no stretch to imagine that any ID he might give them would be a fake.

The young man was running his fingers up and down the handle of the butter knife sitting on the napkin in front of him, and his expression left Sam with no doubt that he was fully aware of how he and his friend had become the butt of their jokes, and he didn't appreciate it.

"Hey, Dean?""

"What?" Dean's response was muffled as he tried to reply around a mouthful of apple pie the waitress had just dropped off.

"I think we may have made those two guys mad."

Dean swallowed and looked over. The younger one had turned back to his friend, but as they watched it quickly became obvious that the two of them were now talking about Dean, Sam, and Benny. Dean shrugged and looked away again, clearly unconcerned. "What are they going to do? They try anything we'll just start ripping that metal out of their ears. Probably think they're a lot tougher than they are."

"You think so?" a  deep gravelly voice said right above and to the side of Sam's shoulder, and all three of them twisted in their seats to see both of the men now standing beside their table. For the life of him, Sam couldn't work out how they'd gotten there without him seeing any movement.

Dean shrugged, easy smile on his face as he presumably tried to convince the newcomers that they weren't worth the trouble of starting a fight. "Hey, nothing personal, guys. You were the ones glaring us down."

The dark-haired one, the one who had spoken, smirked just a little and looked over at his companion, who was still glowering at them. He looked even younger up close, definitely not older than his early twenties, and he'd probably have been pretty cute if he hadn't been trying to burn holes in them with his eyes.

"Nothing personal," the older one said, turning his attention back to them. "Samandriel looks at everyone like that. He can't help it."

"Hey!" The younger one - Samandriel, whatever the hell kind of name that was - stopped glaring long enough to look offended.

The older shrugged. "You aren't a very nice person, Dri."

"Whatever."

"Well, not that this hasn't been fun…" Dean said after there was a stretch of silence that lasted long enough to become uncomfortable. "…But did you two want something?"

"You're Sam and Dean Winchester, aren't you?" The older man's gaze lingered on Benny for a second. "I have no idea who you are."

"He's Benny," Sam told him shortly. "How do you know us?"

Samandriel snorted. "You're the fucking Winchesters. Who doesn't know you?"

Dean and Sam were quiet for a minute looking between the two of them. Dean spoke first. "Wait. You mean, you two… are hunters?"

"Obviously."

Dean looked them up and down appraisingly. "You don't look like it."

"What are we supposed to look like?" Samandriel retorted. "Eight layers of plaid and leather like you guys?"

"A little less ink and jewelry may be a step in the right direction."

"Fuck off."

 _"Dri._ " The older one gave Samandriel a reproving glare and then looked apologetically at Sam, Dean, and Benny. "Sorry. I'm Castiel, and this is my brother, Samandriel."

"Cas and Dri, if those are too much of a mouthful for you," Samandriel said, in a tone that implied he thought the three of them couldn't possibly be capable of pronouncing the names.

"Weird-ass names to go with the weird-ass look, huh?" Dean's voice was biting, as irritated with Dri's attitude as Sam was. "I'm Dean, that's Sam, and that's Benny. And you two must be the hunters that have been hanging around town for a month because they can't figure out what they're doing."

"Says the hunter who just blew into town and has no idea what's going on yet," Cas said coolly, obviously annoyed, but better tempered than his brother.

"How about you tell us what you've found out then?" Sam broke in before Dean could insult the two hunters right back. Sam didn't much like them either so far, but in no way did antagonizing them sound like a good idea.

The brothers exchanged glances. "Come with us back to our motel," Cas said at last. "We'll show you our research."

"Unless you're at the one around the corner, I'll have to go get my car," Dean told him.

"We're not, but that's fine. We still haven't eaten. I'll give you the address; meet us there in, say, an hour?"

"Works for me."

Sam had never heard an agreement so fraught with tension. This hunt was going to give  him a headache for a week, he could feel it.

* * *

 

"What the hell are you driving?" Dean asked as soon as Cas and Dri got out of their car in the parking lot of their motel. "You look like a fucking-"

"Don't say pimp," Dri said, sounding more amused than upset this time. "He gets moody when people say pimp."

"Shut up."

Sam grinned; brothers were brothers no matter who you were. He, Dean, and Benny followed Cas and Dri into their room, which counted as a sort of proof of them being hunters. Newspaper clippings, printed-out articles, and maps littered the small space, and there were knives and guns lying about. In fact, it looked very much like how Dean, Sam, and Benny's motel rooms tended to end up during a hunt. Cas and Dri were trying hard, at least.

The motel room door shut behind them, ensuring privacy, and Castiel wasted no time in turning around and saying "It's vampires."

Sam glanced at Benny, who he knew well enough to see had tensed up, and was immensely grateful that Cas and Dri had no way of knowing what Benny was.

Dean raised an eyebrow, and Sam saw him glance at Benny too. The look was probably too quick for either of the other hunters to have noticed, Sam hoped. "Vampires? Aren't there usually, I don't know, _bodies_ involved when there's vampires?"

Samandriel shook his head. "Not always, apparently. We found their nest a month ago, there's _tons_ of them. And the only thing they seem interested in doing is making more. That's where all the missing people have been going."

"They're just making more vampires? That's it?" Benny asked, sounding confused. Sam couldn't blame him. Vampires were lots of things, and one of those things was usually predictable. If they were just making their nest bigger, there had to be some ulterior motive, and Sam found that concerning.

Dri gave Benny a cool look that somehow communicated 'you're an absolute idiot' while remaining calmly emotionless. "'Just?' Kidnapping people and turning them into vampires sounds bad enough to me. Is there something more you wanted them to do? Were you hoping for corpses strewn through the streets?"

"No! I mean, no, that's not what I meant. It's just weird, that's all. Vampires don't act like this. I should know, I-" He stumbled for a second. "I've hunted enough of them. There haven't even been animal killings. What are they eating?"

Cas shrugged. If he and his brother had noticed Benny's fumbling, they were choosing not to respond to it. "Just because there aren't any animal bodies being found doesn't mean they haven't been eating whatever they can find out in the woods. And they probably have a food stash at their nest. We couldn't really get a good look at it, there were too many of them."

"You haven't gone to get a closer look yet? After a month?" Dean asked incredulously.

Cas gave him a withering look. "There are over a hundred vampires in there. They're edged into some corner of the woods with a big cliff face at their backs so there's only one way to get at them and they have guards watching that way, even during the day. My brother and I would like them dead, not for the two of us to end up as their breakfast."

Dean grinned and Sam had to fight to resist the urge to roll his eyes at the all-too-familiar expression. "Well, then maybe me and _my_ brother should go teach them a lesson instead."

Sam scoffed, but before he could tell Dean that he had no interest in a suicide mission, Samandriel spoke up. "Go right ahead. There's the door, we'll plan your funeral. You have anyone you want us to call?"

"Boy, you're a charmer, aren't you, kid?"

Samandriel scowled. "Don't call me kid."

"Yeah. Sure thing, kid."

" _Dean,_ " Sam reprimanded with an exasperated sigh. He really was determined to make these guys hate them, wasn't he? Because dealing with other hunters wasn't enough of a challenge when they were just on neutral terms with each other. "Shove your pride for a minute, would you?"

"Come on, Sam, you're not telling me you're scared of a couple of vamps, are you?"

"A couple? No. A giant fucking nest of them? Yeah, Dean, I'd like to not get eaten just because you want to show up a couple of hunters that you have an issue with."

"Oh, don't go stopping him," Samandriel said. "I'm sort of hoping for him to get turned so I can say 'I told you so.'"

"It is his favorite thing to say," Cas said, with the mildly affectionate yet irritated tone that only showed up amongst siblings that spent too much time together.

Sam wasn't sure if it had been intended to be a joke, the guy didn't seem to have a whole lot of emotional range in his tone, but Samandriel nodded as though it hadn't been.

Benny rolled his eyes. " _Anyway_ , Dean, you know they're right. The three of us against a giant nest of vampires? Let's not go tempting fate. We'll want to plan."

"Yeah, we'll see."

Which Sam knew almost certainly meant that they'd be wading into that nest sooner rather than later. At least they were well stocked with machetes.

"Where is this nest anyway?" Dean asked.

Cas gave him a knowing and disapproving look, but Dri, who very clearly didn't care if they went out and got themselves killed, stood up and grabbed a map. He used his teeth to uncap a pen that had been lying on the table, drew a circle, scribbled down some coordinates, and handed the map to Dean. "You'll have to park your car with the cars of the victims. The roads don't go that far. Good luck." He didn't sound like he meant it.

Dean noticed and his responding smile was equally insincere. "Thanks, kid. Come on, you two. Let's go.

Benny followed without objection. Sam shot Cas and Dri what he hoped came across as an apologetic smile before he followed suit. The two of them looked thoroughly unimpressed.

They'd barely shut the doors of the Impala behind them before Dean started laughing and shaking his head. "Good lord. Did you two see those guys? Metal in their ears, tattoos everywhere… What do they do, walk up and try to 'bad attitude' monsters to death? Those two have got to be the luckiest guys alive, if nothing's killed them yet. Assuming they've ever fought anything. They probably just hang around motels until someone else - like us - comes in and does their job for them."

"Or maybe they're perfectly good hunters and they just have more common sense than us," Sam replied mildly. He didn't think a whole lot of Cas and Dri either, but that didn't mean he was ready to toss their warning out the window just yet. "You don't actually want to go into a nest that big without any preparation, do you?"

"Relax, Sammy, we'll just go check it out. I don't really trust the reports of punks one and two. I'd like to know what we're getting into for myself."

Sam wasn't looking at Benny, but he could almost hear the eye-roll in his voice. "Whatever you say, Dean. Let's just not rush in all guns blazing until we know we're not signing off on our own deaths. All right?"

"Yeah. Of course."

Sam, for his part, didn't feel particularly reassured. "Come on, Dean, we're serious. I don't really like those two guys either, but that doesn't mean they're wrong. If even _half_ of the people who've gone missing have been turned, then this nest is bigger than any we've ever found before. And if memory serves, vampires are pretty good at knowing how to use their numbers."

"And they said they've got guards," Benny reminded them. "Which means they're prepared to fight if they need to. And know how. This isn't going to be an ordinary hunt where we run in, kill it, and get out of town. We're going to have to plan."

Sam took a breath to brace himself, side-eyed Dean, and broached a subject he knew would not be well met. "Dean, I know they were kind of douche bags, but Castiel and Samandriel have been here for a month. They've probably been working on a way to take out most of the nest in one go. They could help us."

"You want to ask those two for help on a hunt? Sam, they look like they belong on the cover of some teen angst music album."

"So what? They're still hunters, Dean. Even if they're not good at the fighting part-"

"Something we have no proof of, by the way," Benny interrupted. "You two don't always look real intimidating either, doesn't mean you can't rip the horrors of the underworld to pieces."

"I'd pay money to watch those two kill something," Dean told him.

Sam forced the conversation back to his original point. "Whether they're good at killing things or not, it looked like they do just fine with the research and the planning part. They could help us figure out how to get rid of this nest without anybody getting killed."

"Maybe," Dean said, sounding unconvinced but possibly considering it. "But I still want to see the nest for myself first. I want to know how many of these things we're dealing with."

"The stack of missing persons files isn't enough for you?" Benny asked.

"I prefer to trust my eyes," Dean told him, gesturing wildly as if that would convince Sam and Benny that his eyes were vastly more trustworthy than any other hunters or police reports could possibly be.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Fine. We'll go check out the nest. But let's try not to piss off any of the vampires before we're ready to deal with them? This is just scoping it out."

Dean nodded. "Just scoping it out," he repeated. "Getting our own report on it. Christ, Sam, don't worry so much. It'll be fine."

Sam glanced back at Benny. "You'll help me keep an eye on him, right?"

"Of course."

Dean just glared.

* * *

 

Samandriel had warned them that the nest wasn't accessible by road, but one would think that either he or his brother would have mentioned that it was another hour off. Sam, Dean, and Benny were going to be doing more walking than they'd been expecting. A lot more.

Even if they had been able to, Sam wouldn't have wanted to drive right up to the nest of course; the vampires would have heard the car and any and all stealth or element of surprise would have been lost. Still, he hadn't wanted to trek through the woods for an hour to double check on the size of a vampire nest either.

"I'll say this much," Benny said, when the GPS on Sam's phone said they were about three-fourths of the way there, "these vampires sure know how to stay hidden."

Dean paused a few feet ahead to catch his breath and look around. "I thought vampires usually preferred to live on the edge of town or in bad neighborhoods. Not in the middle of the woods, hours from anything."

"Usually do," Benny agreed. "All the ones I've known, anyway. They also usually prefer to eat people, so this nest is apparently just _different_."

"You're just being all sorts of helpful today, you know that?"

Benny shrugged unapologetically. "You don't understand all humans, I don't understand all vampires. I'm not your monster encyclopedia, you know."

"You hear that, Sam? Our monster is telling us he doesn't know about monsters. Why are we keeping him?"

Sam rolled his eyes. "Leave me out of this, Dean."

"Yeah, Dean, leave your little brother out of it. He knows not to start fights with monsters."

"That a threat, Lafitte?"

"It could be."

Sam cast a look towards the heavens as though asking God what he had done to deserve this. "Good God, you two. Are you _five_? I've met kindergartners more mature than you guys."

"Oh, as if you're any better, Mr. 'Super-glue on the Beer Bottle.'"

"You started that prank war and you know it. I warned you it wasn't going to end well."

Benny raised an interested eyebrow. "Prank war, huh? Any embarrassing stories I'd like to know about?"

Dean grinned and Sam groaned even as he smiled. "Want to hear about the time I put Nair in Sam's shampoo his first year of high school?"

Benny looked at Sam, laughing, and Sam could all but see Benny's mental image of Sam minus the hair. "You get him back for it, Sam?"

"Nah," Dean answered before Sam had a chance. "Dad came back from his hunt the next day and put a stop to the whole thing. Sammy never got his revenge."

"That's what you think," Sam told him, feeling more than a little smug at the memory. "I was just more patient than you gave me credit for."

"What are you talking about?"

"Two months later? Inside of your locker tastefully decorated with flattering pictures of male strippers? The gorgeous Susie Jones saw, told you it was perfectly fine for you to be gay but she wasn't going to be your beard, and you sulked for a week."

"That was _you_?"

Benny burst out laughing so hard he had to catch himself on a tree. "Dean, who the hell did you think plastered your locker with pictures of strippers?"

"I don't know; I figured it was some idiot who was pissed because I was having better luck with the girls. Damn, Sammy, I didn't know you had such a good poker face."

"I wanted to brag that it was me, but I was sort of terrified about what your response would be."

"I would have killed you."

"Exactly."

Benny was still laughing. "Did 'Susie Jones' out your to the rest of the school?"

Dean glared at Sam as memories started resurfacing. "She did once she realized I was trying to get a date with one of the cheerleaders. She told me it was for my own good, that I couldn't stay in the closet hiding behind pretty girls forever. I have never been so happy to change towns as I was that time. I blame that incident for my dropping out."

"Dropped out of high school because he couldn't get the girls," Benny said, still chuckling. "The Dean Winchester way."

"Damn straight. Cheerleaders were the only perk to high school. Not like you need a GED to kill demons."

"And that, Benny, is why the two of us get stuck with all the research."

"Don't use that tone like you don't enjoy the research, Sam. It's your favorite part. I'm doing you a favor, letting you do all the book reading."

"Right. A favor. Thanks, Dean, I'm eternally grateful."

"Just looking out for my little brother, Sammy."

Benny shook his head fondly and reached out for Sam's phone to check that they were still going the right way. He stopped dead right before he took the device, going ramrod straight and looking around. Dean and Sam looked at him, puzzled, for a moment, before realizing something was wrong and readying their weapons.

A low chuckle came from the trees and a tall, thin man who looked to be about twenty-five appeared. He was grinning with too many teeth; teeth that were sharp and long and pointed. Vampire.

"A vampire and two hunters walk into the woods. Now there's a bad joke if I've ever heard one. Hunters who don't even know how to be quiet, besides. That's even better."

Sam mentally kicked himself for forgetting how close to the nest they were getting and not quieting down. He knew Dean well enough to see that the same thoughts were running through his mind. Benny's fangs were out and he was in a fighting stance.

Not that it was going to do them a whole lot of good. The vampire with the sense of humor had brought friends, and there were now six others that Sam could see, surrounding them and readying for a fight. A fight which would undoubtedly get loud, and bring in even more vampires, if they weren't on their way already.

Dean, Sam, and Benny had maneuvered so that, between the three of them, they could see in each direction. Their backs were to each other, weapons at the ready. The vampires were moving in, and all Sam could think was that unless their luck suddenly changed drastically, they were royally _fucked._


	4. The Boys and Girls in the Clique

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Castiel is a good person, who helps people out. His motivations have nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that Dean Winchester is unreasonably attractive.

Castiel managed to sit on the foot of his bed, sharpening knives in silence, for a full twenty minutes before the guilt finally got to him.

"We should go after them," he said, setting his stuff down next to him and looking at Dri, who was contentedly leaned against the headboard of his own bed, watching 'My Cat From Hell.'

"What for?"

"To make sure they don't die, Dri. I know they were kind of jerks, but it wouldn't kill us to help them out a little."

"I don't know. It might."

" _Samandriel_."

"What? That Dean guy seemed pretty convinced he and his friends could handle it. They looked strong, I bet they'll be able to work in a decent number of decapitations before they become unwilling blood donors."

" _Samandriel_."

"Quit saying my name like that, would you? You're making me feel like a toddler."

"Well, you're acting like one. A petulant child who's upset because it's the other kid's turn to play with his favorite toy. Come on, we'll just drive out there and step in if they look like they need us."

Samandriel rolled his eyes, but reached for his shoes. He had a weird thing about not wearing them when he was sitting on a bed. Cas felt that far worse things had probably been on that bed, but it didn't seem worth a debate. If Dri didn't want to wear shoes on the bed, he didn't have to wear shoes on the bed. Michael would approve, at least. "Fine. But I'm not risking my life for those assholes. Did you hear them making fun of my earrings?"

"Our earrings, Dri. They were making fun of _our_ earrings. The three of them probably think they're super macho tough guys. Don't you want to show up, kick some vampire ass, and prove them wrong? You'll get an 'I told you so' out of it."

Dri looked considerate for a moment, and then reached for his knives with slightly more enthusiasm. Nothing like appealing to his pride to make Samandriel Novak actually express interest in something. It was an art form, and Castiel had spent the last two years of his life perfecting it. Dri never even realized he was being manipulated. Which was a good thing, since he'd probably have reacted to it angrily. And Dri had pinpoint accuracy when he threw things while angry, which was his natural response. He'd learned it from Lucifer.

"I bet Dean will pout if we save his life," Samandriel commented idly as they headed out to the car. "We should wait to move in until he can't deny that he'd have been dead without us."

"Dri?"

"Yeah?"

"You worry me sometimes. You know that? You're sort of a sadist."

Dri shrugged, unconcerned. "If you say so. And Cas?"

"Yes?"

"You realize that we kill things for a living, right? Not even for a living, actually. We don't get paid. We kill things for the hell of it. There are _serial killers_ with purer motives than we have. I don't think you get to judge me."

"Are you trying to convince me that I'm as bad as you are?"

Dri shrugged as he climbed into the car. "I call them as I see them, Castiel. And for all that you have more morals when it comes to things like credit card scams and bar fights, you are every bit as vicious and vindictive as I am when it comes down to it. You just put more effort into hiding it."

Cas scoffed. "As if you could hide it even if you wanted to. Dri, you're the world's worst liar."

"Or maybe I'm the best and you've just never caught me."

Cas rolled his eyes. "Sure. Remember that time in middle school when you failed two of your classes and had to get Michael's signature on your report card, so you faked it? And then you slunk around looking so guilty that absolutely no one fell for it? Your teacher said it was a perfect forgery, but you still couldn't slip it by her."

Samandriel sniffed and looked pointedly out the window. "I was _twelve_. I have learned and matured since then."

"Whatever lets you sleep at night, little brother. But you're still a god-awful liar."

"If I'm so bad at it, why have we never been caught being fake FBI agents?"

"Because I do most of the talking."

"Castiel, if I'm an awful liar, you're an atrocious one. At least if I get caught it's because I feel guilty or I'm scared I'm going to get caught. You just suck."

"I do not!"

"Oh, yes, you do."

"You know what, we're calling home later and having Anna settle this."

"She'll take my side. I'm the favorite."

"You're the _baby_. Not the same thing."

"Don't call me that."

"What? The baby? You _are_ the baby, Dri. There is no way to get out of it."

"Yeah," Dri said, and he suddenly sounded sullen and withdrawn. "Don't remind me."

Cas looked over at him, concerned, and he was now sitting slouched in his seat, arms crossed over his chest. His bangs were hanging over his eyes and he hadn't bothered to push them away. Cas ran back through the conversation in his head, but he couldn't think of what he'd said that had triggered the mood.

Exasperated but used to it, Cas turned his attention back to the road and let it drop. If Dri wanted to talk about it, he would, and if he didn't no amount of prompting from Castiel would change his mind. Regardless of whatever else Samandriel may or may not have been, he was stubborn and didn't like sharing his feelings. A family trait, unfortunately. Anna was pretty good at making Dri knock it off, and Cas was getting better, but it was still usually best to leave him alone when he got moody. He'd either talk about it or get over it by the time they got to the vampires' nest, and if not he'd get over it by chopping a few heads off. It was a therapeutic process, as Cas knew all too well from personal experience. Dri would be fine.

* * *

 

"Well, they made it this far, at least," Dri said as Cas put his car into park next to the Impala the Winchesters had been driving.

"Which answers the question of whether or not they really were stupid enough to come out here," Cas added. "I'd half expected his younger brother to talk him out of it. Toss me a machete, would you?"

Dri, who had opened the trunk to grab their weapons already, did so, grabbed himself one, and slammed it shut again. "Let's go kick some ass."

"You are _such_ a drama queen."

"I learned it from my older brother."

"You had better be talking about Balthazar, Gabriel, or Lucifer, Dri, or else I swear to God-"

"Yes, the death threats will convince me that you're not overly dramatic. Good job, Castiel. I now see the error of my ways."

Cas huffed and glared at his little brother, who just smirked, obviously pleased with himself. They'd spent far too much time together, Cas decided. Dri was getting too good at winning their arguments.

They quieted as they started walking, listening for some sign of either vampires or the hunters they were following. If all was well Cas didn't want to give the Winchesters' positions away to the vampires, and if it wasn't he wanted to get as much warning that they were going to walk in on a fight as possible.

It wasn't really necessary, however, as the snarls and shouts would have been more than loud enough to be heard over a conversation.

Samandriel and Castiel straightened and paused for a moment at the first sounds of the fight, tightening their grips on their weapons and exchanging glances to make sure that the other one was ready to go. Dri, for all that he'd been insistent that he wasn't going to be risking his life for the Winchesters and Benny, was grinning.

Cas couldn't help but grin back. They'd killed a fair number of vampires during their month in town, but it had always been no more than two or three at a time, snuck up on while they tried for another abduction. This was a real fight, the kind they'd gone far too long without. They charged towards the sounds.

There were already heads without bodies - and vice versa - littering the forest floor, but Sam, Dean, and Benny looked like their luck was starting to run out. Cas couldn't tell quite how many vampires there were, but it was obvious at first glance that it was more than three hunters could handle. Castiel jumped in to help, Samandriel right behind him.

Cas' world narrowed down to a circle that surrounded him just past the reach of his weapon. Nothing outside of that mattered right now. Dri could take care of himself; unless he shouted Cas didn't need to worry about him. All that mattered now was the fighting, the blood, the movements. One wrong turn could kill him.

It was exhilirating.

Cas resented when his brothers would imply that he had some sort of death wish, but at moments like this, when the monsters that gave children nightmares and that grown men refused to acknowledge were dropping to the ground because of him, Castiel could admit that maybe there was a shred of truth in the accusation. He couldn't apologize for it though. Nothing that made his heart race like this could ever be apologized for.

Dean Winchester stumbled into the circle that was Castiel's entire awareness of the world, ducking to avoid a vampire's swing, overcompensating, and toppling as though he might fall to the ground. He wouldn't get up again if he fell, that much was certain.

Cas moved to his side, catching him with one hand, readying his machete in the other. He swung just as Dean regained his footing, and Cas felt more than heard the fighting roar that ripped from his throat. Another fanged head toppled to the ground, the body falling silently after it.

Cas glanced back at Dean, who had regained his footing and was back in the fight, teeth bared. It should have looked silly, up against the fangs that were showing in every mouth coming towards them, threatening to rend them limb from limb. But it didn't. Dean looked fierce, wild, and in that moment Castiel knew without a doubt that if Dean Winchester met his death at the hands of a monster, he would leave the world with a snarl, not a whimper.

It sent chills down his spine, even as he turned away to return to his own part of the fight. It was as if every story he'd ever heard about the Winchester brothers had come to life as absolute truth in that second. Reckless, stupid, thick-headed, but hunters right down to their very bones.

Fights were quick and messy affairs, even if Cas breathed them in like they were made of oxygen. They would be all around, pressing in from every side, the world narrowed to shouts and snarls, to the sound of guns firing or blades meeting or missing their targets. And then they would be over and there would be nothing left to kill. On a good day, Dri and Cas would make eye contact over the corpses of the monsters and breathlessly laugh out the rest of their adrenaline and their relief at being alive.

On a bad day, they leaned on each other as they limped back to their motel to patch each other up before they passed out from the blood loss.

On a terrible day, which they'd only had one of, they would ignore all the dangers that came with checking into a hospital, Cas sitting out in the hallway, trying to work out if any of the blood soaking through his jacket was his, praying Dri's injuries weren't as bad as they'd seemed.

Today felt like a good day.

Cas straightened, lowering the machete, panting hard but smiling. He found Dri a few feet away, doing the same. They made eye contact, smiles growing into grins, when Samandriel's smile froze on his face and his eyes widened. His face hardened again, crouch returning, machete coming up once more, snarl forming on his lips.

Castiel turned to follow Samandriel's gaze, copying his posture without sparing it a thought.

He couldn't see what Dri was considering a threat. The vampires were dead and the only thing standing where Dri was looking was the Winchesters' friend, Benny. Who turned, as Cas watched, and his mouth came into view.

A mouth which was filled with sharp, long fangs.

Benny paused, appearing to make eye contact with Dri. His mouth curved into a smile around the fangs. Cas braced himself to jump after him if he made a move. The move he did make wasn't the one Castiel was expecting. He straightened, posture relaxing, weapon lowering. His fangs retracted, and he looked like a relatively harmless, if muscular, ordinary human being again.

"I don't think the two of you were supposed to see that," he said easily, southern drawl calm, although his gaze was flitting between Cas and Dri, who were both still poised to attack.

"That you're one of the bloodsucking monsters we're hunting?" Dri snarled. "Yeah, I can see why you wouldn't want us knowing about that."

"The two of you have something you'd like to tell us?" Cas called out to Sam and Dean, who were watching the scene intently, ready to join in if a fight broke out, although it was unclear whose side they would be on.

"Well, we aren't vampires, if that's what you're asking," Dean said, slowly moving to put himself between Benny and Dri. Sam followed behind him.

"Did you know _he_ was?" Not that Cas didn't know the answer. As if it would be possible for two experienced hunters to spend so long in close proximity with a vampire and not work it out, regardless of how hard Benny tried to hide it. The real question was why they hadn't already decapitated him.

Dean glanced over his shoulder at his brother and the vampire, and Cas could see him wondering whether or not he should lie. Dean nodded. "We knew."

"And his head's still attached?" Dri wasn't relaxing in the least.

"He's a good guy," Sam said, but he said it weakly, as if he didn't expect the Novaks to ever believe him.

It was a fair point; they didn't.

"A good vampire?" Dri barked a short, sardonic laugh. "What, is he from a _Twilight_ book?"

Benny looked offended by that, and it was the most emotion he'd shown since putting his fangs away. "Compare me to those again and I just might bite you."

"Benny?" Dean said out of the corner of his mouth. "I don't think you're helping your case here, brother." He turned his attention fully back to Cas and Dri. "Look, how about we all just put our weapons away and talk this out?"

"And maybe put some distance between us and the nest before they come looking for their friends," Sam added, glancing nervously behind himself.

Cas had no real desire to put down his weapon when he and Dri were outnumbered and the hunters they'd just saved were proving to be insane, but Sam did have a point about them needing to move away. He made eye contact with Samandriel and nodded. "Let's get back to our cars. But this-" he pointed at Benny with the tip of his weapon and made sure both the Winchesters were also paying attention "-isn't over. I want to know why two of the most well-reputed hunters out there are running around with a vampire."

"Deal," Dean said easily. "Just as soon as we get back to the cars."

Cas gestured for them to go ahead. He didn't trust any of them, particularly the vampire, to be at his or his brother's back. "Let's go then."

* * *

 

The trek back to their cars was spent in tense silence, Cas and Dri exchanging glances the whole way, as if the other one would suddenly have an explanation for the oddness that was occurring. They weren't actively threatening Benny or the Winchesters, but they were tense and prepared to move in to attack at the slightest provocation. Cas, not terribly trusting at the best of times, was regarding them with heavy suspicion. Dri just looked determined, and Cas had little doubt that he'd already formulated his opinions and made up his mind where their three companions were concerned.

The five of them reached their vehicles without incident from either each other or the vampire nest they'd been so close to. Dean, Sam, and Benny stopped and turned to face Cas and Dri as soon as they arrived.

"I hope you've been working on an explanation," Cas said once they did. "Because it's going to take a lot to convince us that we shouldn't kill all three of you right here and now."

"You think you could?" Dean challenged.

"Did you see what happened back there?" Dri retorted. "We saved your asses. You'd be either a corpse or a vamp by now if it wasn't for us."

"Five against a mob of vampires isn't the same as three against a mob of vampires," Dean told him. "I don't think you two are _that_ good."

"And I don't think we should be jumping to find out," Benny broke in. "I thought the point here was that we _didn't_ want any of us getting killed."

"He's right," Sam said hurriedly, probably hoping to change the subject before his brother and Samandriel started up again. "This really isn't as bad as it looks, I swear."

"Hunters making friends with a vampire?" Cas asked. "If you ask me it looks more insane than bad. What is he, your pet?"

"Our friend," Dean said defensively. "Look, I get that it sounds stupid, but Benny's one of the good guys, okay? He helps us out. We can trust him."

"He's a _vampire_ ," Samandriel declared loudly, as if the rest of them had somehow forgotten that vital detail.

"A vampire that doesn’t eat people," Benny replied calmly. One would think he had this conversation every day. "Not anymore. Not for a long time."

Dri rolled his eyes. "Oh, and we're just supposed to take your word for that? Because vampires reform themselves so often, right?"

"Not really." Benny smiled. "I'm pretty one of a kind, I'm afraid. Or, at least, those that swear off humans don't normally live to tell about it."

That much, at least, Cas could believe. If there _were_ vampires that woke up one day and decided they'd had enough of eating people, he couldn't imagine the others would wave them off and wish them well. Still, the idea of peaceful vampires wasn't something he could wrap his head around. Although he supposed that Benny joining up with hunters didn't make him exactly peaceful.

"And just what led you to this redemption?" Cas asked dryly.

"That's not really any of your business," Benny told him. His tone was easy, but his glare said that he wouldn't take kindly to Castiel continuing to press the subject. Cas glared right back in response.

"Does it matter?" Dean said, coming to Benny's defense again. "He's with us, he's good."

"No offense, boys," Dri said, in utter disregard of the fact that everyone there was older than him and he undoubtedly meant offense, "but your reputation isn't _that_ good. I'm not trusting a vampire to be anywhere near me just because you've gone off the deep end."

"How did you two team up with him?" Cas asked.

Dean shrugged. "It was - what, a little under a year ago?" He glanced back at Sam and Benny for confirmation and they both nodded. "Benny was working at this restaurant in Louisiana. We stopped there while we were working a job in the same town."

"He was impressed with my pie making skills," Benny interjected, smirking. Dean rolled his eyes but didn't seem inclined to deny it.

"Yeah, yeah, quit bragging. Anyway, we found a vampire nest while we were there. Turned out Benny was after them too and we ended up teaming up. We reacted a lot like you to the fact that he's a vampire, but he helped us wipe out the whole nest."

Sam jumped into the explanation. "He had to go on the run though, because a couple of people in town had found out too. Or seen his fangs, at least. Dean offered him a lift, and then he just… never left."

Dri raised an eyebrow and shared an incredulous look with Cas. "You _adopted_ a vampire?"

Dean gave an exasperated shrug and put on a phony grin. "What can I say? He's cute, he cooks, and he's hard to kill."

Benny smacked him on the arm, but didn't look legitimately annoyed. "I have a fondness for killing monsters myself," Benny told Cas and Dri.

"Even vampires?" Dri sounded skeptical, and Cas agreed with him.

" _Especially_   vampires." Something in Benny's face looked suddenly feral, and if Cas hadn't seen the fangs for himself he would have thought Benny had lost everything to vampires, rather than being one himself.

"Are we good?" Dean asked gesturing between them. "I don't want you to be our best buddies or anything, but I don't want to spend the rest of this hunt looking over my shoulder for one of you looking for an easy decapitation."

"Rest of this hunt? You three are still planning on going after this nest?" Cas had been expecting the three of them to move on and skip town, now that Benny's secret was out.

"We never leave hunts unfinished."

Finally, something that fit with the Winchesters' reputation.

"That's not going to work," Dri said, catching even Cas by surprise, although it only took him a second to realize he should have been expecting it. "We're not leaving either, and we're sure as hell not working with a vampire."

Cas said nothing, but crossed his arms over his chest and silently dared the three of them to argue.

"Fine by me," Dean said, reaching for his car door handle. "We'll just stay out of each other's way, huh? You don't try to kill Benny, we'll call this a day. May the best hunter win. Come on, you two, let's go."

Sam and Benny moved for the car as well.

Cas and Dri stayed standing by their own car until the Impala pulled away and drove out of sight.

Dri looked up at him. "Well, I didn't see that one coming."

Cas shook his head and chuckled. "Who would have? The infamous Winchester brothers, friends with a vampire."

"Oh, how the mighty fall."

Cas looked over at his little brother to see him grinning like a moron, vastly entertained by the whole situation now that they weren't standing next to them. "You're an idiot," Cas fondly informed him. "Get in the car."

"Think they'll actually stick around?" Dri asked as he obeyed.

"Probably. They don't strike me as the sort to give up and go home. Could get interesting. Of course, we'd all probably be better off if we teamed up-"

"Castiel! Please tell me that you're not thinking about teaming up with two guys stupid enough to have a vampire!"

"Of course I'm not! I'm just saying… It would make things easier. That's all."

But Cas was thinking about Dean during that fight; the feral glint to his eyes, the way the very fight itself had seemed to etch itself into every line of his being. A chill ran through his bones again at the memory. "I was just saying," he repeated.

Dri frowned, but that wasn't unusual. He let the subject drop, for the time being at least. Castiel was grateful. Whatever Dean had said about them staying out of each other's way, they were working the same case. They would run into each other again, there was no way around it. Cas was having difficulty convincing himself that that would be such a bad thing.

* * *

 

They actually managed to avoid one another for a full two days before Cas and Dean ran into each other while on coffee runs.

Cas turned around, one coffee in each hand, not fully awake yet, and with his hair still damp from his shower, and he nearly spilled both drinks down Dean's shirt.

"Oh, God, I'm sorry," Cas said, stumbling a little as he tried to help and catch his balance at the same time.

Dean staggered too, thankfully without any coffee in hand. "You got it?"

Cas finished recovering and glanced down to make sure he hadn't upended one of the cups. "I'm good. No spills, no burns. We're good."

"That's… good." Dean flashed him the cheesiest smile he'd ever seen, and he'd grown up around Gabriel making bad puns and poorly concealed innuendos, so that was saying something.

Cas smiled back hesitantly, unsure if Dean was going to barge out of the shop the moment he fully realized that it was Cas who had nearly spilled coffee on him; the same guy who may have still been planning to kill one of his friends.

He didn't though, although the smile did fade slightly and begin to look forced, as one of Dean's hands came up to rub the back of his neck. "So, uh, Cas… How's the hunting going?"

Cas shrugged a little awkwardly, nearly tipping Dri's espresso back and spilling it all over his hand. "Well enough, I suppose. We're still trying to come up with a reasonable method of wiping out a nest that large without making ourselves easy targets at the same time."

Dean nodded understanding. "Yeah. We're sort of stuck there too. Benny usually has pretty good tips when it comes to vampires - him being one and all - but this is a bit bigger than any of us are used to."

"Don't you hate it when they stop being predictable?"

"Yeah. Who do they think they are? Bunch of humans?"

Cas laughed as Dean stepped away to grab his coffee as his name was called.

"Just two?" Cas asked, looking at the cups Dean was now holding.

"Benny's not a big coffee drinker."

"Well, I guess that- You know, I've never thought about that before. Do vampires eat or drink anything other than blood?"

"Yeah, they- Hey, you want to walk and talk? Sammy'll get grumpy if his coffee's cold by the time I get it to him."

Cas glanced down at the drinks he'd almost forgotten he was holding. "Yeah, Dri too." He took a sip of his own and followed Dean out the door, where they began making their way down the sidewalk.

"Anyway," Dean continued, "yeah, vampires can have stuff besides blood. It doesn't really _do_ anything, like, nutritionally, but they can have it. Probably tastes differently for them too. But Benny just doesn't like coffee. Especially not Starbucks."

"Got it."

They continued walking in the same direction, side by side, as an awkward silence stretched out between them.

"I, uh," Dean cleared his throat. "I never thanked you, did I?"

"For what?"

Dean looked sheepish. "You did kinda save my ass the other day."

"Oh. Right." The memory had nearly been erased by the one that had been dominating his thoughts ever since; the image of Dean standing there, looking like something that had stepped out of a nightmare that a monster would have. Castiel's heart stammered for a moment at the thought of it. "You're welcome. And the three of you seemed to be quite capable, you were just massively outnumbered."

"Yeah. That'll teach me to ignore warnings, huh?"

"Will it?"

"Probably not."

The two of them made eye contact, flashed each other smiles, and laughed.

"At least you realize that," Cas told him.

"Hey, first step, right?"

"That's what I hear."

"See? I'm making progress."

"I don't suppose you, your brother, and your… and Benny, have been having anymore luck with the nest?"

Dean shook his head. "Like I said, we're stuck too. I vote we pen them in and light them all on fire, but I haven't worked out the best way to do that just yet."

"That's one way to do it. Dri and I thought about poisoning them with dead man's blood somehow, but that's an awful lot of blood. Besides, they're not stupid, obviously, so they'd probably catch on before it killed very many of them."

"Damn monsters."

"Damn monsters," Cas agreed.

Dean looked at him appraisingly. "You know, you seem like a pretty cool guy, Cas. Your brother's sort of hot-headed, but-"

"Says the man who charged into a vampire nest after being warned there were more vampires there than he could handle."

"Hey, I didn't charge into the nest, we were ambushed. Not my fault. And I didn't say your brother's temper was a _bad_ thing. I mean, yeah, I'd rather him quit acting like he wants to chop us all into bits, but I've met worse that I've become friends with. Ever met Jo Harvelle?"

"Ellen's daughter? Out at the Roadhouse? Yeah, we've met. She and Dri like to talk knives."

"Of course they do," Dean said, laughing. He laughed with his entire body and his face visibly lightened as he smiled. "But like I was saying, you're an all right guy. And you guys do seem to know what you're doing out there, as much as I hate to admit it."

"Changed your mind about our wearing too much jewelry?"

Dean's eyes flicked over to Cas' earrings and he hesitated for a moment before deciding Cas was probably joking. "Nah, you two definitely wear too much jewelry. The tats are kinda cool though. How many of those do you have?"

Scarcely aware of it, Cas reached up towards the few tattoos that were partially visible on his neck. They frequently got strange looks when he introduced himself as an FBI agent. Government agents were allowed to have tattoos, but they were supposed to be covered up. Thankfully, Cas - according to Dri, anyway - had a face that discouraged too many questions being asked.

"A lot," he replied after a moment's pause. "Most of my back and parts of my chest are covered."

Dean whistled. "Impressive. You have an anti-possession tattoo, or should I shoot some holy water at you?"

Cas nodded. "Right side, over my ribs. Dri too. You?"

Dean gestured to his chest with one of the coffee cups. "Left side, over my heart. Same with Sam. Vampires can't get possessed, so Benny's good. At least, I don't think they can. Huh. Maybe I should ask Benny about that."

Dean stopped abruptly and Cas paused to see why. Dean gestured to the right. "I'm going that way."

"Oh. I'm… Not."

"Yeah. Um, like I was going to say earlier, I thought maybe I'd talk to Sam and Benny about teaming up with you guys after all? If you think you and your brother would be cool with Benny, anyway."

"I'll talk to Dri about it."

"All right. Um… Here." He bent down to set the coffees on the ground and pulled out his cell. "Give me your number."

Cas did so, Dean picked up his coffee again, said he'd call later, and they turned to go their separate ways. It took all the self-control Cas had not to look back at Dean as he walked away.


	5. Keep An Eye On You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Samandriel hates vampires and Dean Winchester is obnoxious, but Sam Winchester is okay, he supposes. He also probably should see a therapist.

"No."

"Wh-What? No what? I haven't asked you anything!"

Dri looked up from his copy of _The Once and Future King_ to raise an eyebrow at his older brother. "You've been going on about what a good hunter Dean Winchester is, and how that probably means his brother is fantastic too, for the last fifteen minutes. You're trying to convince me that we should team up with them. And don't think I haven't noticed how you've been avoiding mentioning the vampire. You really aren't a subtle person, Cas. Not in your repertoire."

"Well, I-"

"And the answer is no. I don't like working with other hunters, and I'm definitely not working with hunters that have a pet vampire. It's not going to happen. No way."

"Come on, Samandriel, we're not getting anywhere with this on our own and you know it."

"And you think we need _help_? From _them?_ "

"Well, not _need_ , necessarily, but it couldn't hurt. And we'd get done with this hunt  lot faster, you have to admit that. We've been here a month, Dri; aren't you sick of Burlington yet? We're never in one place this long."

"You want to team up with a vampire because you're stir-crazy?"

Cas just gave him an exasperated look, as if he was being purposefully and unnecessarily difficult. "Would you drop the vampire thing already?"

Dri finally shut his book, set it on the nightstand beside the bed, and stood up. "Drop the vampire thing? Just forget that the guy's a bloodsucking abomination that we should, by all rights, be chopping up right now? What the fuck's wrong with you, Cas? You want to make friends with it?"

"I never said friends!" Cas said defensively, which Dri knew meant that he was at least considering being on good terms with them.

"Whatever. Not going to happen."

"Come on, Dri. Just for this case. We'll help each other out, get rid of this nest, and we'll all go our separate ways and we won't have to deal with the Winchesters or their vampire again."

Dri was still having difficult wrapping his head around the idea that they weren't trying to figure out how to kill the vampire without his hunter buddies returning the favor. Working with the three of them was just outside the realm of believability. "You don't really think we can trust them, do you?"

Cas shrugged in a way that said yes, he very much did, but thought Dri might lose his temper if he said so. "I've been speaking with Dean-"

"What? When? Is _that_ why you've gone outside to the vending machines four different times today?"

"You noticed that?"

"You're not sneaky either, Cas. You've been talking to Dean?"

"Yes. He's open to the idea of working with us for this Cas, and so are his brother and Benny."

"The vampire."

"Yes, Samandriel, the vampire. We all know he's a vampire. Can you let it rest for a minute, please?"

"No! Cas, he's a _vampire_. Have you forgotten what a vampire is? Christ, Cas, what if it was a demon they were palling around with? Would you be so open to teaming up with them then?"

"It's different, demons aren't-"

"Aren't what? Monsters? Killers? Out to get us?"

"Dri…" Cas sighed and shook his head. "Look, I don't really like it either, but it's just the one job, and Benny really doesn't seem interested in eating us. The Winchesters have known him for nearly a year, don't you think they'd have noticed if he was running off to kill people behind their backs?"

"I don't know. They didn't seem like the brightest of guys to me."

Cas rolled his eyes. " _Dri_."

"Well, they _didn't_." Dri looked appraisingly at his brother. "You are bound and determined to team up with them, aren't you?"

"I really do feel that it would be the best course of action, yes."

Samandriel threw his hands up in defeat. "Fine. Whatever. Call Dean and tell him we'll help each other out. But I swear to God, Castiel, if that vampire so much as _looks_ at me the wrong way, I am taking its head off and I will not lose one second of sleep over it. And tell Dean to quit calling me kid!"

Cas shrugged as he pulled out his cell phone to make the call. "It isn't Dean's fault that you look about fifteen, Dri."

"Don't encourage him either, Cas. I don't care if you're my older brother, I will knock you out. I'm not a kid."

"Of course you're not," Cas told him, but he didn't sound like he was listening to anything coming out of Samandriel's mouth anymore. "Not a kill at all. You're a fully mature twenty-one, I know. Hi, Dean!"

Cas stepped out the motel room door to talk to Dean outside, leaving a very confused Samandriel still standing in the room. As if Dri didn't know who Cas was talking to and why he was talking to him. They'd just had an entire argument about it.

Dri shook his head, sat back down on the bed, and reached for his book again. Cas did weird things sometimes. Dri had long since given up trying to understand any of it. If Cas wanted to have super secret conversations with some dumb-ass hunter, that was his decision.

Granted, Dri would prefer it if the dumb-ass hunter was one that didn't go around being  all buddy-buddy with a vampire, but there wasn't much he could do about that. Perhaps it was a good thing they were teaming up with the Winchesters after all, Dri thought. The sooner they took care of this nest, the sooner they could part ways, and the sooner Cas would quit talking to Dean. It was for the best all around.

Just so long as they didn't expect him to be nice to the vampire. Putting up with it and refraining from chopping its head off was one thing, but there was no way in Heaven or Hell that he was going to become the damn thing's friend.

* * *

 

A few hours later, Dri had met up with Sam at the local library to compare notes and see if they could dig up anything new. Dean and Cas had run off to run the patrols Dri and Cas had been doing since they arrived; looking out for the vampire picking up new victims.

Dri couldn't see why _he_ couldn't be the one to go hunting with Cas, and make Dean stay behind and do the research with his brother, but Cas had said something about how that was part of what teaming up entailed and to suck it up. As long as Benny wasn't around, Dri supposed he could tolerate it. He didn't know where the vampire was, but it wasn't the library, so he didn't much care.

Sam sighed and rubbed at his eyes. "Sick of researching this yet?"

"I was sick of it three and a half weeks ago." Dri stared at the book laid out in front of him for a moment longer before deciding that the author was never going to get to any sort of point and snapping it shut. He pushed it across the table to the ever-growing stack of useless volumes.

Sam slid his book over as well. "Yeah. I can see why." He ran his hands through his hair and bit his lip. "You want to take a break? We could go grab something to eat."

"Sure. Why not?" Dri stood up and stretched. This library wasn't winning any prizes for comfort. "That diner you met us at has pretty good sandwiches."

"Works for me."

They headed out of the library towards where Dri had parked Cas' car, leaving the books on vampire lore strewn carelessly across the table for some library employee to find, be confused by, and put away.

"Can I ask you something?" Sam asked as they pulled away.

"I'm pretty sure you just did."

"Very funny. You know what I mean."

Dri smirked. "Go ahead."

"You and your brother have the _weirdest_ fucking names. There a story there?"

Dri hadn't exactly been expecting the question, but it by no means surprised him. Sam was hardly the first person to prove unable to reign in his curiosity on the subject.

He shrugged. "Not a story, exactly. And our name's aren't really that weird, by our standards. We have a brother named Lucifer."

Sam looked at him as though waiting for the punch line to a joke he didn't understand yet. "You're serious?"

Dri nodded. "Our mom liked the idea of naming us all after angels. I guess she thought it'd be like a good luck charm or something." Every time some had told him that, Dri had wondered if it had worked. If it had, he didn't want to imagine how things might have gone had she stuck with more traditional names.

"The name Lucifer was supposed to be a good luck charm?"

"He was an angel once. The name means light-bringer. It'd be cool, if he hadn't gone nuts and tried to, you know, destroy humanity."

"Yeah, I suppose that could be counted as a downer on the whole thing. What angels are Castiel and Samandriel? I'm not exactly an expert, but they aren't ringing any bells."

"Castiel is the angel of Thursday, whatever that means. And, depending on which source you look at, Samandriel is either the angel of imagination, or of fertility."

Sam snorted. "Fertility?"

"Don’t even go there, Sam. I promise you, there is not a single joke you could make out of that that at least one of my siblings hasn't though of already."

Sam laughed. "You the youngest?"

"Yep. Of _seven."_

Sam winced like he'd been hit. "Jesus. I am so sorry. I thought _one_ older brother was bad. Your parents must have their hands full."

Dri tensed up, hands tightening slightly on the steering wheel. "Not exactly. They're dead."

"Oh. Sorry, man. Didn't know."

Dri nodded to show he wasn't angry, but the atmosphere in the car remained awkward.

"Our mom died when we were kid," Sam finally said, looking out the window. "And our dad a little over a year ago. Same demon got them both."

"Did you kill it?"

"Eventually. Dean did. With the Colt."

"That kills-anything gun? It's real?"

"It's real. Out of bullets now though, so it doesn't really do us a lot of good anymore. Which reminds me, I called Ellen asked about you two."

Dri raised an eyebrow. "You did?"

Sam shrugged, not appearing to feel the least bit guilty. "Wouldn't you? You can never be too careful about other hunters."

Dri understood that. If the Winchester hadn't been so widely discussed in hunter circles already, he'd probably have done the same. "What'd she say?"

“She mentioned you and your brother are demon killing experts. Killing, not exorcising. How do you do it?”

“Got a special knife. Cas found it a couple years ago, back before I started hunting with him. It’s not like the Colt, it can’t kill anything it comes across, but it kills demons just fine.”

“That’s handy.”

“Give me a knife over a gun any day,” Dri said, running a finger over one of the knives strapped to his hip under his clothes. “No risk of running out of bullets.”

They pulled up to the diner and went inside. They took their seats at a booth towards the back, sitting across from each other.

“How did you two start hunting?” Sam asked, taking a sip of the water the waitress had left them. “If you don’t mind. I know it’s a touchy subject for some people.”

Dri shrugged. “Cas started first. I joined him when I wanted to get away from home. He wasn’t really happy about it, but we work pretty well together now.” It wasn’t a lie, but he’d certainly left out a lot of details. Sam wasn’t entitled to them. He realized he’d started fidgeting with one of the little hoops at the top of his left ear and forced his hands back down to the table. “And I don’t think Cas would want me talking about how he started.”

“Fair enough.”

Sam changed the subject to talk about television shows and had Dri seen the new werewolf movie that had come out a few months ago? Because it was crap and the most unrealistic thing to hit theaters since - well, since the last monster movie, probably.

Dri smiled and contributed to the conversation almost on autopilot. Sam was turning out to be not-bad company. He wasn’t Dri’s friend, by any means, but they’d been together for a fair while now and Dri had yet to have a desire to push him out of the window, so that was something.

Still, his mind was refusing to focus on the conversation. Sam’s questions had been innocent enough, but the answers to them had Dri’s brain trying to wander through memories that he would rather leave dead and buried in the past. Sam’s movie rant was doing nothing for him, so he instead tried to force himself back to thinking about how to wipe out the vampire nest. Unfortunately, it seemed that that subject had been thought to death. His mind wasn’t having it.

“Witches are coming back, have you noticed?” Sam was saying. “Witches and vampires.”

Dri sat up a little straighter, pulling his hand away as he found he’d gone back to tugging on his earrings. “Witches and vampires.”

“Huh?”

The waitress appeared then, wanting to know their orders. Dri pointed to a random sandwich on the menu and shoved it at her, wanting her to go away as quickly as possible. Sam gave him an odd look as he ordered for himself.

The moment she was gone, Dri started talking again. “Witches. What about a spell?”

Sam looked lost. “A spell?”

“Yeah, a spell. To wipe out the nest? There’s got to be _something_ that could take out that many vampires in one go, and then we wouldn’t have to be right in the middle of the nest to do it.”

Sam looked thoughtful. “We’ve got a friend with a bunch of books that might have a spell that would to the trick. I can give him a call.”

“Let’s go then,” Dri said, jumping to his feet.

Sam just gave him an odd look. “It only takes one person to make a phone call, you know. Sit down, wait for our sandwiches. I’ll call him.”

Dri, who hated sitting around once he’d had an idea, even if he was logically aware that there wasn’t anything he could do about it just yet, flopped back into his seat with a huff.

Sam returned a few minutes later to say that his friend was looking into it and would call if he found anything out. They agreed to call Dean and Cas once they were done eating and let them know as well, and dug into their sandwiches.

* * *

 

“You know, I’ve heard those things can take twenty-five years off your life,” a low voice drawled.

Samandriel looked up from where he was leaning against Cas’ car, waiting for Sam to come back with the books he had offered to give Dri to look through overnight, to see if they could find a spell before Sam’s friend - Bobby, he’d said his name was - got back to them. He pulled the criticized cigarette away from his mouth and blew out a stream of smoke.

“Who asked you?”

Benny, who appeared to have spent the entire day lying about his motel room while Dean and Sam made themselves useful, just shrugged. “Just thought a hunter would care more about being able to breathe. Guess if you want to die of cancer, that’s your own choice.”

Dri wanted to put out his cigarette the way he usually did when having a conversation, but it would have felt too much like letting Benny think his opinion had been taken into account. He brought it back up to his lips instead. “Damn right it is.”

Benny rolled his eyes, seemingly unimpressed. “You this friendly to everyone, or am I just special, kid?”

“Oh, you’re _special_ all right, you bloodsucker. And I’m not a kid.”

“Compared to me? All humans are kids.”

And Dri didn’t have to like the guy to concede that he probably had a point there. Benny looked like he was in his thirties or so, but that was just how old he’d been when he’d been turned. He could have been centuries old, easily.

Dri sent another stream of smoke Benny’s way rather than say that aloud. “This _kid_ could kill you, no problem.”

“Don’t got to tell me that. I saw you the other day in the forest. I don’t think much of your outfit choices, but you know how to kill, I’ll give you that.”

Samandriel sneered. “You’re criticizing my clothes, fangs? You looked in a mirror lately? Seen your hat?”

Benny looked a bit offended at that one. “And just what’s wrong with my hat, pigeon?”

Dri dropped his cigarette, stomped it out, and drew himself up to his full height. “You did _not_ just call me pigeon.”

Benny held his ground. “And if I did? Is there something you were planning to do about it… pigeon?”

Dri reached for one of his knives, and it was fortunate for Benny’s neck that Sam chose that moment to come out with three large books in his arms. He looked between Dri and Benny for a moment, obviously aware that they weren’t getting along fantastically well.

“Here.” He pushed the books into Dri’s arms. “We’ll call you in the morning and see if anyone’s found anything, okay?”

Dri nodded at Sam. “Thanks.” He looked at Benny a few feet away and glared wordlessly. Benny looked unimpressed, just raising an eyebrow in return with a look that said ‘just try it, I dare you.’

If Dri hadn’t been so certain that Sam would jump in to break them up before anything really happened, he would have snapped up the dare in a second, no doubt about it. Sam _was_ there, however, so instead Samandriel tossed the books into the car’s passenger seat and got in.

“See you tomorrow, Sam,” he said coolly, not glancing in Benny’s direction again. He wouldn’t give the vampire the satisfaction of thinking he was succeeding in getting under Dri’s skin. Which he wasn’t, obviously.

Sam was smart, he probably knew that there was plenty of tension between Dri and Benny, but he made no comment about it, just nodding in response. “See you tomorrow. We’ll meet over breakfast or something. Dean and I found a place that makes good pancakes the other day.”

“Sounds good.” And blood free, which meant no vampires allowed. He once more refrained from looking in Benny’s direction. He started the car and turned the stereo up, sending ‘Good Citizen’ blasting through the speakers. In the rearview mirror, Dri could see Sam and Benny moving back into the motel.

Fucking vampire. Dri wanted to be done with this hunt soon, because he didn’t think he’d be able to put up with the thing much longer. Probably would have tried to have him for a snack if Sam hadn’t returned when he had. Why it hadn’t taken a bite out of the Winchesters was a mystery to Dri. Probably liked the protection.

He remained fuming about the vampire for the rest of the drive home, pausing occasionally to reassure himself that Benny wasn’t getting to him, it was just the situation in general. There was nothing special about that vampire other than the fact that he had gotten himself some friends in high places.

He was still thinking about it, telling himself it was just because he had nothing better to do just now, when he returned to his and Cas’ motel, grabbed the books Sam had loaned him, and entered the room. Cas was already there, dropped off by Dean sometime earlier, and he was lying on his bed, eating Chinese food and watching something with lots of explosions going on. Dri tossed one of the books at him.

“How’d patrolling with Dean go?”

Cas sat up a little straighter, popping a piece of meat into his mouth. “It was good. We caught three vampires trying to catch a woman driving home from doing her grocery shopping.”

“She get out of there before you started beheading them, or are we going to have to explain to the sheriff why you’re killing people and hiding the bodies?”

Cas gave him a dirty look. “What, you think all my common sense goes out the window when you’re not around? Ii did survive two years without you, you know.”

“And how you managed that will be a mystery to me to the end of my days,” Dri said dryly. “But mostly I was asking about Dean.”

“He’s a professional, Dri. Of course he made sure she was gone before he started killing things. Which didn’t take very long; lady was out of there so fast she’s going to need new tires by the time she gets home. We could smell the burnt rubber for the next two miles.” He pulled the book Dri had thrown at him over and opened it. “Guess we’re spending the night spell hunting, huh?”

“That’s the plan. Don’t sound so grouchy about it, I’ve been researching all day. At least you got to go kill something.”

“Fair enough.”

Dri raised an eyebrow at Cas, who already had the book open in his lap and was starting to skim through it. “You’re in a good mood.”

Cas shrugged one shoulder. “I guess. It was a good day.”

Oh, God. “Cas, you’re not honestly getting close to Dean Winchester, are you? I thought we agreed we weren’t going to make friends with these guys.”

Cas didn’t even have the good grace to look guilty. “Well, I hadn’t really talked to him yet, had I? He’s a nice guy, Dri. We just got off on the wrong foot with him and his brother. And with Benny.”

“Yeah. The-”

“Dri, I swear to God, if you bring up the fact that he’s a vampire again…”

“Well, he _is_.”

“Yeah, I got it. He’s a vampire. You don’t like that. Calm your shit. Dean says he’s a good guy.”

“And you trust Dean? What do you even know about him?”

“He’s a nice guy, Dri. He’s friendly, he’s got a good sense of humor, he’s a _great_ hunter-”

“Christ, Castiel! What are you, some preteen with a crush? He’s friends with a vampire, even the hunters who praise him and his brother the most say they’re unstable, he-”

“Well, what about Sam? You spent a few hours with him today, what’s he like?”

“Don’t change the subject, Cas.”

“I’m not! Sam is Dean’s brother and one of his two hunting partners, he’s completely relevant. Did you two get along?”

Dri sulked at him for a minute before answering. “Yeah, I guess we did. You know, well enough. We’re not friends though, and I’d much rather not work with them again. I don’t like other hunters, Cas.”

“So I’ve gathered. Lighten up, would you? I’m being friendly with a guy we’re hunting with, I’m not asking him to join up with us for good. This hunt, and all three of them are gone, right? Just calm down.”

Dri was still seething, but he sat down on his bed and pulled a book over. Cas went back to reading his as someone on the TV screamed about the fate of the world or something, and Dri tried his best to focus on the words on the page.

There were words caught in his throat that he couldn’t work out how to say. Dean wasn’t the _point._ The Winchesters and their pet vampire weren’t the _point._ They were a part of it, but a small part. They weren’t what was important.

What was important was that Cas was all Dri had and he knew from experience that if he let go for a second - that was all it ever took - Cas would be gone. Dri needed Cas a lot more than Cas needed him. His sandwich twisted in his stomach and he focused on looking like he was giving all his attention to the book in his lap.

* * *

 

Both Novaks and Winchesters came up empty on the research that night, but the Bobby guy Sam had mentioned seemed to have had better luck. They arrived to breakfast with a list of ingredients and a long string of Latin words over some instructions, written in a horrendous scrawl that someone more forgiving that Samandriel might have called handwriting. Their vampire was in tow.

Dri glared at him, and if he noticed he was careful not to give a response. Neither of them said anything.

“What exactly does this spell do?” Cas asked after they all ordered and the waitress left them alone.

“Wipes out all vampires within a certain radius. The place where they dumped their cars should be close enough; it affects a pretty big area,” Sam told him.

Dri glanced at Benny, who raised an eyebrow as though daring Samandriel to say that he hoped Benny would be inside that area.

Sam either noticed the look or was planning to bring Benny up already, because he said, “It won’t affect Benny. There’s this exception part of the spell, where if you put some DNA from someone you don’t want affected in while you’re preparing, they’ll be fine.”

“That’s convenient,” Cas said, and, although he said it far less ironically than Dri might have, he had to agree with his older brother. How many vampire killing spells had ways to exempt vampires from the effect?

“Bobby can find a spell for anything,” Dean said by way of explanation. “And we’ve got some of this stuff already,” He gestured to the list as he shoveled a forkful of sausage and pancake into his mouth. It nearly killed Dri’s appetite to watch.

Nearly being the operative word. The pancakes here were fantastic, and the strawberry syrup was something Dri would consider killing over.

Cas pulled the list over to where he could read it better, examining the ingredients that were not yet crossed off. “We check around when we first got here, and there’s a place in town I think we can buy a lot of it. With any luck, we’ll be able to do the spell tonight.”

“Let’s hope so,” Dean said, still talking with his mouth full. Whatever Cas saw in the guy, Dri wasn’t seeing it. “They know there’s hunters here, they’ll probably be either moving on or stepping up their game pretty quick here.”

“They know about us?” Dri asked, glancing to Cas for confirmation.

Cas nodded. “Sorry, forgot to mention it last night. One of the vampires we caught yesterday said something about ‘so you’re the hunters that have shown up in town.’ Guess they finally worked out that _somebody_ had to be taking out their friends.”

Dri wanted to ask him how the hell _that_ had slipped his mind, but he didn’t want to have that conversation in front of Benny and the Winchesters, so he swallowed it down with another bite of his pancakes and a swig of coffee.

“Alright,” Dean said, smiling at Cas. “We’ll split up, round up the ingredients. How about we meet up where they dumped those cars once we’ve got everything? You two can just call us once you’re good to go.”

Cas nodded without looking at Dri for confirmation. “That works for us.”

Dri bristled at not being consulted just so Cas could make a good show in front of his new friend, but said nothing. He didn’t have a valid objection to Dean’s proposal; he’d end up sounding like an idiot if he started a fight because he felt left out of his brother’s decision making.

Dri was relieved when breakfast was over, only too eager to get away from the awkward silence he’d been sharing with Sam and Benny while Cas and Dean talked like they’d known each other for years. Sam, who had been shamelessly listening in on their conversations, had periodically looked over at Benny, raised an eyebrow, and jerked his head towards Cas and Dean, as though saying ‘Dude, can you believe these two?’ Benny had just shrugged and shook his head.

“You and Dean certainly _seem_ to be friends,” Dri said mildly once he and Cas were back in their car and pulling away from the restaurant.

Cas shrugged, tapping his fingers cheerfully on the steering wheel. He wouldn’t have seemed to be in an abnormally good mood to an outsider; he was only barely smiling and the tapping could have attributed to boredom or impatience as easily as to happiness.

Dri wasn’t an average observer, however, and he’d been around Cas long enough to read his moods from the smallest hints. Something was different in him; in the lines of his shoulders that were just a little less taught than usual, around his eyes which were usually more narrowed with focus. Dri didn’t like the look at all.

“Are you going to stay in touch with him after this case is over?” He wasn’t sure if his question had come nonchalant or if it sounded accusatory, as though he was telling Cas he had better not, and he wasn’t sure which one he’d been aiming for. He knew he wanted Cas to say no though. To laugh and shake his head and ask Dri where the hell he’d gotten that idea from.

Instead, Cas just shrugged again. “I don’t know. Maybe. Never hurts to have another hunter on speed dial, just in case, right?”

“We’ve never need other hunters’ help before. We’ve been fine.”

“I know that. Doesn’t mean that having one wouldn’t make things easier anyway.”

Dri struggled to find a way to say ‘and you didn’t think you should talk to me about it?’ without sounding like a clingy teenager in their first relationship and failed. Instead, he said, “I still don’t trust him, Cas. Something about him sets me on edge.”

“Dri, be honest for a second. When was the last time you _did_ trust someone?” Dri winced, remembering exactly when the last time was, but Cas didn’t seem to realize he’d hit a sore spot, barreling right on. “I love you, Dri, honestly, but you have absolutely no social skills whatsoever. I’m not going to tell Dean to get lost just because you’re not sure about him.”

Unhappy about it as he was, Dri didn’t have an argument or protest to that. He was twenty-one years old and didn’t have a single non-family friend. He’d had one in a girl named Hael for a few years during middle school and high school, but she’d moved away a few months into senior year. They’d stayed in contact for a short while, but she’d stopped speaking to him when she’d found out he’d dropped out.

And there’d been Adam, of course, Dri’s one and only romantic entanglement of his life. If it could be counted as that.

He wrenched his thoughts away from that road before it could get depressing again. Adam was a dick. He’d come to terms with that ages ago.

“Whatever,” he told Cas, not in the mood to fight about it now. “Just don’t expect me to be nice to him just because you think he’s great.”

“I would never even consider it,” Cas replied dryly.


	6. The Drugs Never Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean is glad to get to kill things, and he'll be missing Castiel Novak when he’s gone.

"I'm impressed with you, Dean," Sam said with a teasing tone to his voice as they reentered their motel room, where they would wait until it was time to meet Cas and Dri in the woods for the final showdown.

"Yeah, you should be," Dean said reflexively, before realizing that he had no idea what the hell his little brother was talking about. "Wait, what? Why?"

Sam smiled, looking like he knew something Dean didn't and was immensely pleased by the fact. "Actually making friends with other hunter? That's a big step for you. Especially considering how I thought you were going to shoot them when we first met."

"Not gonna lie, I thought about it," Dean told him. "First impressions weren't exactly the greatest. But Cas is actually a pretty cool guy. Kinda weird, but not bad."

Flat our awesome, really, now that Dean had spent some time with him alone and had a few real conversations with him. The tight jeans, tattoos, and piercings that Dean had thought so weird at first - guy had one through his _eyebrow_ for fuck's sake, didn't that _hurt_? - now seemed to suit him, and he had a hard time imagining Castiel without them.

With the possible exception of the jeans. He thought he was maybe having a little too easy of a time imagining Castiel without the jeans. Which he shouldn't be, because he was Dean Winchester, and he was as straight as an arrow, maybe straighter, and the fact that Castiel had a really nice ass that he should maybe not show off so much shouldn't even have been registering in his brain.

He'd caught himself checking out a few guys over the years, had occasionally slowly moved into the general vicinity of being dimly okay with vaguely entertaining the idea, but it was still something he'd rather deny. It had been pretty easy until Castiel had shown up in his dark jeans and his dark jacket that had more pockets than Dean would have known what to do with, and his fighting skills, which far exceeded the expectations Dean had had for him. Now Dean's mind was choosing to wander down paths he wasn't sure he was ready to look at.

That wasn't a subject he wanted to go within a hundred miles of with his brother in the room, so he wrenched his thoughts back to the present. "His brother still seems like sort of a jackass."

"Who, Samandriel?" Benny asked, coming in the room without bothering to announce himself. He'd been in his own room next door, where he could drink his blood without grossing out Dean and Sam. Dean had been reluctant to dish out the money for another room when they'd first started hunting with Benny, but after a considerable number of arguments concerning sleeping arrangements, they'd all agreed that it was for the best. "Yeah, he's not exactly the friendliest guy I've ever met."

Sam shrugged. "He was okay when we were working together yesterday. Not worse that anyone else we've worked with, anyway."

"And I don't like most of the people we've worked with, remember?"

"Fair enough," Sam said with a laugh. "You have weird taste in friends, Dean." He gave Benny a pointed look. The vampire stuck his tongue out in response like he was a teenager.

"Yeah, like you get to talk," Dean muttered, mostly to himself. He considered making a jab about some of Sam's love interests over the years, but decided it would be more hurtful than the situation merited.

"Whatever." Sam rolled his eyes. "Are you going to go pick up dinner or what?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going. You want anything, Benny?"

"Gee, greasy fast food burgers," Benny said dryly. "How could I ever live without?"

"A simple 'no' would have done the job there, buddy. I'll be back in a bit."

Dean headed out the door, a part of him feeling grateful for the alone time. A separate part was upset that he now had nowhere to focus his thoughts that wasn't back towards Cas.

He'd only known the guy for a few days, and hadn't ever had a civil conversation with him until yesterday, but the two of them had just _connected_ , somehow. Cas understood having a little brother to watch out for, the worry of having exposed him to the life they were leading; he understood the struggle of wanting roots somewhere - friends or family, it didn't make much difference - but not wanting to put anyone else in danger. Perhaps most importantly, he understood that, for Dean, there was more to hunting than revenge.

What it was about hunting that he loved so much he could never quite put his finger on. _'It's just… It's_ me _, you know?'_ Dean had offered up when he and Cas had been talking, sure that Cas _didn't_ know, because Dean didn't know himself.

But Cas had nodded thoughtfully, saying he thought he understood, that he frequently felt the same way. And Dean had believed him. It hadn't feltlike something he was just saying because he was trying to get on Dean's good side or something.

Dean wasn't going to call Cas his new best friend or anything, but he definitely wasn't going to be losing his number once this hunt was over. So long as Cas didn't lose his, at least. The guy wasn't real expressive; Dean couldn't tell if he was enjoying Dean's company as much as Dean was enjoying his.

Dean tapped his fingers lightly against the steering wheel, barely noticing his surroundings as he drove. Of course, there was the matter of Castiel's baggage, and whether or not it was the kind that he could function under the weight of.

Cas definitely had baggage. Dean had never, not once in all twenty-nine years of his life, met a hunter that didn't. Somewhere in Cas' story, buried under the light-hearted mentions of his four older brothers and one sister and the off-handed mention that his parents were long since dead, was another story that had driven Cas away from home with a gun in one hand, a duffel bag in the other, and no money in his pockets.

Every hunter had one. And some hunters couldn't live past them. John hadn't been able to. Sam had at first - if you could count their mother's death as having been his story in the first place - but after Jess had died he'd lost that ability for awhile. He could live past it now, but Dean knew it still haunted him sometimes. Had changed him for good.

Dean found himself hoping that Cas' was one that could be lived past. Something that had given him a taste of hunting and now he was addicted rather than stuck, the way Dean was.

He pulled up to the burger joint and decided he'd just have to wait to find out.

* * *

 

Cas and his brother pulled into the clearing in their car, which Dean still said looked like it belonged to a pimp, as the sun was setting, casting long shadows off the trees surrounding them. Cas smiled a greeting as he got out of the vehicle and moved to get the ingredients they'd picked up out of the trunk. Dri didn't look at any of them and he had an unpleasant look on his face, like he'd just downed a liter of lemon juice in one go. Cas has said that Dri was a great guy once you got to know him, but Dean had yet to see any evidence of that.

Still, he had asked Cas to trust Benny solely on his word, so he supposed he could give Samandriel the benefit of the doubt for the time being. After all, it wasn't like he'd done anything other than be grouchy a lot. Sam was guilty of that sometimes. If nothing else, at least nobody would be able to say that Dean had started it if he and Dri started throwing punches. Sam would probably say it anyway, but Dean would know. And Cas had mentioned that Dri had a tendency to be aggressive, so he'd probably know it too.

"We good to go?" Dean asked the group. Cas nodded and set his stuff down next to Sam.

Sam nodded too. "We are now. Good thing too. I don't want to be out here at night anymore than we have to be."

"Eh, you worry too much, Sammy," Dean told him flippantly, despite feeling much the same. They didn't know how much running around the woods these vampires did after dark, and Dean would rather they not tempt fate too badly. Underestimating this nest had already nearly gotten him, Sam, and Benny killed once; it wasn't an experience that sounded fun to repeat.

Sam and Cas crouched down next to each other to begin setting up for the ritual. It wasn't a terrifically complicated one, but it was fussy. Bobby had said it wouldn't work if they set it up at all wrong.

Dean leaned against his car so he could watch without being in the way. Benny was a little farther away, presumably keeping an eye out for any vampires that might pay them a visit, and Dri was leaning against his and Cas' car, looking sullen. Dean considered asking if something was wrong, but figured he'd just get chewed out for his trouble. And maybe he just liked to look sullen. Some people liked being in bad moods.

"What are you looking at?" Dri said suddenly, accusatory.

Dean looked at him and opened his mouth to defend himself before realizing that Samandriel had been talking to Benny, and was now glaring him down. The kid was cute, with too many freckles and a face that would get him carded every time he bought alcohol for the rest of his life, but that glare was actually pretty intimidating.

Benny straightened up from where he'd been slouched against a tree. "I wasn't looking at anything."

"Yes, you were! You were looking at me like I was something off a menu!"

"I was not!"

Dri just glared harder. "Knock it off, you abomination."

"Hey now!" Dean broke in. He glanced over to see that Sam and Cas had paused to watch the situation unfold. "You two keep working on the spell. _You_  two-" he pointed between Benny and Dri, "-just… I don't know, don't look at each other."

Dri rolled his eyes, shot Benny another glare, and looked like he was thinking about snarling at him, but he started looking in the other direction, pointedly away not only from Benny but from Dean too.

Dean just rolled his eyes and wondered how Cas put with the guy. Maybe he was friendlier if there weren't any vampires around or something. Surely he couldn't be this moody _all_ the time. It'd get exhausting.

Benny straightened up and reached for his machete."Dean."

"What is it?" Dean asked, tightening his grip on his weapon too, moving towards Benny a few steps. "Vampires?"

"Think so. _Something's_ coming anyway."

"Sam, Cas, hurry it up. Samandriel, you ready? We're going to be fighting any minute now."

"I'm ready." Dean didn't doubt it. He didn't have to like the guy to admit that he was a hell of a lot better at fighting than it looked like he should be. There were probably countless monsters who had died wondering how the cute, scrawny one had gotten the drop on them.

The silence as they waited was thick with anticipation. It weighed down on Dean's shoulders until he was about to snap with the need to kill something, to get rid of the threat that was bearing down on him and his friends. It stretched on and on, hours passing in the time it took Dean to take in three more breaths and let them out again.

Then the world roared back to life as Benny moved with reflexes born of a combination of supernatural strength and years of practice, and a vampire landed in front of him, sharp teeth drawn as it let out a feral growl.

And then there was just weapons and teeth and heads being removed from the necks they belonged to Dean swung around himself in a short circle, sending the vampires backing away and leaping in again in equal measure as they weighed their chances of winning this fight.

He didn't realize that he was moving progressively farther from where Sam and Cas were still working the spell until Benny called his name.

"Dean!"

He whipped around as blood spattered across his chest to see that the monsters were definitely aiming for Cas and Sam. Dri was all but standing over his brother, doing his best to kill anything that came even close to being within range. One big advantage of killer fangs was how close you had to get to use them.

Dean moved to help, but they were drastically outnumbered and he was almost completely cut off from the other four. Most of the nest must have come after them.

A blow caught his side as he swung again and the air whooshed out of his lungs. He stumbled, straining for breath. A sharp pain caught his shoulder, followed swiftly by the all-too-familiar sensation of hot blood seeping out of an injury.

Dean snarled and grit his teeth together, forcing himself to stand properly and take another swing. And another. And another. More and more and more. He lost track, and he was fairly certain his side was bleeding too, and at least one of those vampires had brought a knife to a fang fight.

Then there was a high whining noise and a flash of light so bright that Dean had to throw up his arm to protect his eyes, and the clearing went still.

"Dean!" Sam yelled, and when Dean looked up it took his eyes a minute to focus and adjust to the complete darkness they were standing in. Sam caught one of his arms. "You're bleeding!"

"Knew it," Dean muttered, suddenly feeling very tired. "Spell worked then?"

"Like a charm," Benny's easy voice said from somewhere in the dark. "Come on, we need ot get you patched up."

A flashlight switched on somewhere, and a moment later there was the sound of an engine that wasn't the Impala's and the clearing was illuminated by headlights.

"Do you need anything?" Cas' deep, gravelly voice said a moment before he came into view. Dean thought he might look concerned, but it was difficult to tell. "We have bandages and pain killers."

"Always prepared, huh, Cas?" Dean asked, grinning. "Bet you made one hell of a boy scout."

"He got kicked out of the boy scouts," Samandriel said. "The girl scouts used to meet down the hall from his troop, and they had to throw him out when they found out he was stealing the cookies."

"Stealing form girl scouts, Cas? That's cold."

"Shut up, Dean."

"He stockpiled Samoas under his bed," Samandriel continued, bad attitude temporarily overridden by the opportunity to play the part of irritating little brother.

"Samandriel, you shut up too."

Sam shook his head with a chuckle and dragged Dean to the Impala. "I think we've got everything we need, guys. Thanks."

Cas nodded and he and Dri started back towards their car.

"I guess we'll be on our way then," Dri said pointedly, and, even distracted by Sam getting ready to run a needle through the wound on his shoulder, Dean could tell that it was probably a strong hint to Castiel that didn't want to be around them for one second longer.

Cas looked at him, then back at Dean. "I…uh, I'll call you? To make sure that you're recovering properly."

Dean nodded, easy grin slipping over his features despite the fact that Sam wasn't exactly being gentle. "Sounds good, Cas. Take it easy out there."

Cas nodded, got into his car, and he and his brother pulled away and out of sight.

* * *

 

True to his word, Cas called at about three the next afternoon.

"Are you alright? I didn't wake you up, did I? You should be getting plenty of rest. Are you nauseous or anything? Have you checked for a fever? That could be a sign of infection, after all." It all came out in a tumble of words, and Dean was pretty sure he only stopped because he had to breathe.

"Christ, Cas, slow down. I'm fine. Sam stitched me up, I'm practically good as new already. Nothing a few beers and some painkillers can't cure." Dean was sitting propped up against the headboard, watching television. There was nothing good on, so 'watching' mostly meant 'flipping aimlessly through channels out of sheer boredom.' Sam was out talking to the sheriff and making sure they hadn't missed anything, and Benny had likely gone along.

"You shouldn't take those things together," Cas scolded.

"You drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes; I drink alcohol and take painkillers. Don't tell me how to live my life."

"Those are not the same thing, Dean."

"Boy, bet you're fun at parties," Dean teased.

"I don't go to parties," Cas replied, sounding puzzled.

Dean rolled his eyes, but grinned. Cas had a serious problem with sarcasm; it was actually a little endearing. "You know, that doesn't really surprise me. Did you guys leave town already?"

"Yeah, we took off early this morning. Dri was sick of being in Burlington. We don't usually spend such a long time in one place, we both get restless."

Somehow, Dean doubted that Samandriel's main problem had been with the city, but he didn't say so to Cas. "I can get that," he told him instead. "Traveling is good, huh? Where are you two headed?"

"Possible haunting in West Virginia. We're currently stopped for gas and snacks."

Which meant that Samandriel probably wasn't close by. Dean imagined he wasn't really thrilled with him and Cas having hit it off. He certainly didn't think much of Dean.

Which was something else that had Dean worried about continuing to talk to Cas. He understood all too well how important family was. If Samandriel really didn't like him, what could Dean possibly have to offer that would make Cas alright with the idea of constantly pissing his brother off? Whatever Dri's reasoning behind his vehement dislike he was Cas' brother, and that counted for a lot.

"Get some pie for me," Dean said jokingly. "Sam's in charge of shopping at the moment, and he's always forgetting it. Or so he says. I think he's just keeping it from me."

"I don't think they sell pie at most gas stations, Dean."

"Don't I know it. It's a hard life for us hunters. I don't know how we do it, man."

Cas chuckled. "Well, we did volunteer for it, I suppose."

"You call tragic back-stories 'volunteering'?"

"The revenge part is." Cas' voice had changed, just barely. It was difficult to pinpoint exactly what the difference was, since Cas' voice was so low and gravelly anyway, and the reception for their call wasn't exactly the greatest. Still, Dean wondered if perhaps he'd touched a nerve concerning whatever it was that had driven Cas to hunting. He thought it best not to ask.

"Yeah, fair enough," he said instead. "Just our special brand of crazy, I guess."

"That's for certain," Cas agreed. "Do you three know where you're heading next?"

"Haven't really looked into it yet. We usually take a day or two off in between, have some drinks and shit. I'm kinda surprised you two are headed for another job already."

"Like I said, we were getting restless. We frequently take time off in between hunts as well, but not always. Besides, it'll be awhile before we get there. We're not in any rush."

"Cas!" a voice called out loudly enough for Dean to hear it through the phone. "Who are you talking to?"

"I was making sure we didn't get Dean killed," Cas called back. "I have to go," he told Dean, and if Dean had any doubts that Cas was aware of his brother's animosity towards Dean, Sam, and Benny, that sentence removed them.

"Yeah, I'll see you around, Cas. Stay in touch."

"I will," Cas promised. "Don't push yourself too hard."

"God, you're worse than my brother."

"Goodbye, Dean."

"Bye, Cas."

They hung up, and Dean spared a moment to imagine the dirty look that Samandriel might be giving his brother at that very second.

The motel room door opened and Sam threw a sandwich wrapped up in cellophane at him.

"How you feeling?"

"Starving."

"Well, I guess that's-" Sam broke off, looking at the TV, then slowly turning to give Dean an odd look.

"What?"

Sam gestured to the television, which Dean had stopped paying attention to sometime during his conversation with Cas. There were currently several small balls of fluff running around  on screen, yipping.

"You're watching puppies?"

"There was nothing on," Dean said in his own defense. It was true, but it still felt weak. "It just sort of ended up there."

"Right." Sam didn't look like he was buying it, but he didn't press the subject. There really wouldn't have been a point, Dean supposed. "You about ready to leave town?"

"I'm good to go," Dean said, getting off the bed to prove it. "See? All set. Grab Benny and let's go."

"I didn't mean _right now._ Benny's eating, I'm going to eat, you should be eating. I was thinking we'd leave tomorrow."

Dean sat back down and started unwrapping his sandwich. "That works too. We get all the vampires?"

"Seem to have. The nest was abandoned and we didn't see anything while we were driving around. If there were any that the spell missed they've probably taken off."

Dean nodded and took a bite of his meal. "Guess we're all done here then. Where to next?"

Sam shrugged. "I'll look into it later, see if I can find anything that looks like a case. Eat your dinner and find a movie or something to watch."

Dean grumbled something about Sam being bossy, and who was the older brother here, but he reached for the remote.

They landed on some action film that Dean didn't recognize and that wasn't in English. He thought it might have been German, but he couldn't be certain.

At one point, a lanky teenager with piercings in his ears, eyebrow, lips, and tongue, dyed black hair, and a spiked dog collar came on screen. He reminded Dean of Cas, just a little bit.

Dean considered the kid on screen for a bit, mentally comparing his fashion choices to those of Cas and his brother. He didn't pull off the look nearly as well as Cas, in Dean's opinion. For one thing, Cas' hair wasn't dyed. He also only had piercings in his ears and one eyebrow, although Dean though tongue and lip piercings might be fun for… certain occasions. Neither of the Novaks wore eyeliner either. Or dog collars.

"Hey, Sam?" he asked after a few minutes of evaluation.

"Yeah?"

"How do you think I'd look with a lip piercing?"

Sam was silent. We he hadn't answered for a full thirty seconds, Dean turned his head to look at his brother, who was just staring at him. His face held a mixture of 'Dean, you're a fucking idiot' and 'maybe we should take you off the painkillers now.'

"Well, fuck you too, Sam," Dean said, returning his attention to the incomprehensible movie, which now had the kid with the piercings dragging the hot chick towards a burning building with the kid's motorcycle in front of it. "I didn't want your opinion anyway."

Sam threw a pillow at him.

* * *

 

Dean, who had slept entirely too much after downing painkillers the night before, woke up a little after midnight, wide awake and unwilling to go back to sleep.

Sam was dead to the world, so Dean quietly got out of bed, pulled on a pair of jeans and his jacket, and slipped quietly out of the room. The night air was cool, but it was refreshing. Dean wandered around a little, no real destination in mind, not thinking about much of anything.

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s not safe to go walking around at night by yourself?”

Dean turned and smiled at Benny. “Well, my dad did, but in his mind that meant that we should _definitely_ go walk around at night by ourselves, so we could help out people who hadn’t been given the same advice.”

Benny chuckled. “That does sound like something a hunter would say.”

“What are you doing out here, Benny?”

The man shrugged. “Wasn’t tired. And I am a vampire, Dean. Mostly nocturnal. What about you?”

“I’ve slept enough in the last twenty-four hours to last me a week. I’m good. Didn’t want to wake Sam up, so I came out here.”

“Fair enough.” Benny stretched, and the two of them stood in front of the motel in companionable silence for a few minutes.

“Are you okay, man?” Dean asked, considering his friend.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

Dean shrugged. “I don’t know. I just wanted to make sure. You know we did just kill a whole bunch of vampires. I know you’re not really on their side, but-”

“I’m fine, Dean. I’ve told you before, I probably hate vampires more than you do. Personal vendettas and all. You know how it is.”

Dean nodded. “Yeah, I know. Just don’t want you to start thinking that’s how we think of you, you know?”

Benny smirked. “Think that’s how that Samandriel kid thinks of me.”

“That’s _definitely_ how he thinks of you. I don’t think the guy’s real big on second chances.”

“Or first chances, honestly. He’s cute though.”

Dean snorted. “If by ‘cute’ you mean that he looks like a twelve year old psychopath who probably used to burn ants under magnifying glances, then sure. He’s adorable.”

“I think it’s the freckles,” Benny continued, and Dean wasn’t certain he’d been listening. “He’s got all those freckles and it just doesn’t fit with the bad personality. And he’s short too.”

“Is there a reason you’re rambling about Samandriel Novak’s freckle-aggressiveness ratio?”

Benny grinned sheepishly. “Not really, no. It’s the middle of the night, brother, I’m allowed to do some rambling. I don’t usually have company unless we’re working.”

“I’d offer to change our hours so we’re up and about at night more, but I don’t think people would appreciate us knocking on their doors at four in the morning.”

“That’s all right. I don’t think I could take any more of your company than I get anyway.”

Dean punched him on the arm. “That’s harsh, Benny. Harsh and unnecessary.”

“Drama queen.”

“Take that back.”

“I’d like to see you try and make me.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “ _Vampires.”_

“ _Humans,_ ” Benny returned mockingly.

“Hey, at least I don’t call you ‘abomination.’”

“I thought we were done talking about the Novaks.”

“I just asked why you were going on about his freckles. You don’t hear me going on about how ridiculously blue Castiel’s eyes are, do you?”

“Well, you’re talking about them _now_.”

“Yeah, to prove a point.”

“You noticed them in the first place, that’s saying something.”

“You noticed the kid’s freckles.”

“Yeah, and I acknowledge that. Kid’s cute, I’m allowed to look. Even if he is an asshole.”

“Shut up, Benny.” Dean could feel his face growing hot and was glad that the dim light they were illuminated in was probably not enough for Benny to be able to tell whether or not he was blushing. “I’m going back to bed.”

“Thought you’d slept enough to last a week?”

“Yeah, but talking to you is exhausting. Takes everything I’ve got to not punch you, you see. Wears me out.”

“Sure, that’s what it is.”

“Good night, Benny.” Dean retreated back into his and Sam’s room, leaving Benny chuckling to himself in the parking lot.

He shouldn’t have mentioned Cas’ eyes. It had just sort of popped out without him realizing he was even thinking about it, and what did that say about him?

In his defense, Cas _did_ have extremely blue eyes. Intense, bright blue eyes that, combined with Cas’ apparent dislike of blinking regularly, made him seem like he was staring right through you. Dean couldn’t decide if it was kinda cool or really creepy. Probably some combination of the two.

But, whatever his issue with Cas’ eyes, he really needed to stop thinking about the guy. He need to stop remembering how deep of a chuckle Cas had, and stop wondering if he was the type of person who tossed his head back with laughter when he was comfortable with someone and they’d said something truly funny.

He needed to stop thinking about those tattoos of his too, the ones that hid under his shirt, lines of just a few of them curling out to his neck. He needed to stop wondering what kinds of tattoos he had, what they looked like, how it would feel to-

He needed to stop thinking altogether, because the whole thing was starting to get creepy.

Dean went back to bed, knowing full well that he wasn’t going to get anymore sleep tonight, but figuring he’d at least pretend to try.

Maybe they’d run into Dri and Cas on a hunt again. Preferably not the exact same hunt, since Dri obviously didn’t play well with others, but maybe on a different hunt in the same general area. He and Cas could grab burgers or something. Sam was always going on about how it was good for them to have friends they weren’t around all the time; he’d probably approve.

By the time the sun came up, Dean had made up his mind to start looking for hunts in West Virginia. Not that he was _trying_ to run into Cas or anything. He just… had a general feeling that West Virginia was probably the best place to head next.

At least, that was what he planned to tell Sam and Benny.


	7. All the Lies in the Books

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cas likes to try to avoid problems until they blow up in his face. Dean is not a responsible enough person to convince him that this is probably a bad idea.

Castiel had been first surprised, then pleased when Dean had called to say he was in West Virginia, so did Cas want to meet him for cheeseburgers or something? If Dri had asked, Cas was prepared to go to his grave swearing that his only interest was the cheeseburgers, but Dri didn't appear to notice that anything was even the slightest bit odd.

Of course, Cas had worked pretty hard to make sure that Dri didn't realize he was going off to meet someone. He'd made up some bullshit story about wanting to go talk to someone about a lead a couple of hours away, and that there was no point to both of them going, since Dri was still digging through records at the local library. He'd grumbled about being stuck with the boring job, but no suspicions seemed to arise.

Lunch was awkward at first, and Cas began regretting having agreed to come. He could see in Dean's face, the way he kept biting his lip and looking at the table, that he was regretting having asked.

"Did you really steal girl scout cookies as a kid?" Dean blurted out after an exceptionally long stretch of awkward silence.

Cas smiled down at the soda he was drinking, a vague sense of pride going through him at the memory. Stealing cookies wasn't something he should really have been proud of, he supposed, but he was anyway. It hadn't been easy, and once everyone had stopped yelling at him for having done it there had been a lot cookies eaten in the Novak household.

"We couldn't afford to buy them," Cas offered up by way of explanation. "And I had this massive addiction to Samoas as a kid."

Dean snorted. "What'd all those brothers of yours have to say about that?"

"Michael was pissed. And Anna kept telling me she was disappointed because she thought I knew better. Everyone else laughed and asked if I was willing to share."

"Were you?"

"I stole Tagalongs and Thin Mints just for them."

“Well, at least you were considerate.”

“That’s what I thought. But I was still grounded for six months.”

“Harsh.”

“I stole about forty boxes of cookies, Dean. And I only returned three of them. My family were the only ones who even knew I’d taken more, and by the time they found out I guess it was too late or something. Or maybe they just didn’t really want to give them back. But forty boxes, Dean. Forty.”

“So?”

“Dean, that’s one hundred and fifty dollars worth of cookies. I had one hundred and fifty dollars worth of stolen cookies under my bed. I was _eight._ ”

Dean laughed, fully this time, instead of just an awkward chuckle, and the awkwardness that had been surrounding them finally eased off.

“It was preparing you for a life as a hunter,” Dean said. “The beginnings of your life of crime.”

“I’ve improved since then,” Cas defended. “I no longer steal cookies from little girls who donate to charities.”

“Do you still get them, though?” Dean asked. “Thin Mints are to die for, man.”

Cas shrugged. “Michael buys them sometimes now, and every now and then Dri and I get home and take some before they’re all eaten. I like the Samoas still, and Dri likes Tagalongs and Do-Si-Dos, because of the peanut butter.”

“Speaking of your little brother,” Dean said cautiously, as though about to say something that might make Cas want to hit him, “What does he think about you coming out here to meet up with me?”

“… I didn’t tell him.”

“Really?”

“Samandriel is…” Cas cut off, trying to think how to explain his little brother without telling Dean something that Samandriel wouldn’t appreciate someone knowing. “He doesn’t really have… He’s not good with people.”

“I noticed.”

“No, not like how he was around you. He’s always had a tough time making friends, and he gets really… Defensive, I suppose? Strike the first blow sort of thing.”

“Okay, I can get that,” Dean said thoughtfully. “But what does that have to do with you not telling him you’re talking to me?”

“He gets possessive. As though I’m going to take off and leave him behind at the drop of a hat.”

“You can’t convince him that you won’t?”

Cas felt a stab of guilt somewhere in his gut and set down what was left of his burger. He wasn’t really hungry anymore. “I sort of have before.”

Dean raised an eyebrow and waited for Cas to elaborate.

Cas squirmed uncomfortably in his chair. “When I first started hunting. I took off one night; grabbed my dad’s old hunting journal, stuffed some clothes in a duffel bag, and stole Michael’s old shotgun that he used to keep around in case we got robbed or something. Dri started calling the next day and I chucked my phone out the window of my car. I didn’t call home for nearly a year.”

“And he got upset?”

“Yeah. I try not to make a big deal out of it if he brings it up; I really wasn’t in a good place during that year. But I think it still gets to him sometimes. And he’s just never gotten very good at anything not hunting related.”

Dean nodded. “Got it. He’s your brother, you’d know a lot better than I would why he’s…”

“An asshole?”

“I was going to go with ‘aggressive’ or something, but that works too.”

Cas chuckled weakly, but felt a little better now that they were off the immediate topic.

“You said you took your dad’s hunting journal?” Dean asked. “So this is kind of like the family business for you guys, same as me and Sam?”

“Not exactly. Our parents were hunters, and they taught us the basic protection stuff - salt, holy water, shit like that - but they didn’t take us hunting with them. Hell, our mom hardly hunted at all once Michael was born, and less and less the more of us there were. But then our mom died and our dad took off, leaving Michael in charge. He never came back, but someone found his car abandoned somewhere, and it had the journal it. We kept it, just in case, but we all swore we’d never start hunting ourselves.”

“What drove you to it then?”

Cas went very quiet. He considered telling Dean for a moment, but the thought was discarded in almost the same instant. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Dean nodded, leaning back and putting his hands up, palms out. “That’s fine. I know it’s a tough topic for most people. We can change the subject.”

“Thank you, Dean. Is there anything you’d like to talk about?”

Dean shrugged. “Nothing’s coming to mind. Or, hey, you could tell embarrassing stories about your brother to get him back for bringing up the Girl Scouts story.”

Cas laughed, wondering if it would be too mean to tell Dean stories about Dri’s rather rambunctious childhood. Dean filled the pause in conversation with a story about how Sam had once studied pictures of flower bouquets so he could make a paper one for a girl he liked, since he couldn’t afford to buy her real ones.

Sitting in that cheap diner, burgers dripping off disgusting amounts of grease right in front of them, Dean talking animatedly and laughing at his own jokes, Cas realized with his heart skipping in horror that he was developing a crush.

* * *

 

The realization led Cas to be distracted for the next several days, as he tried to figure out what the hell he should be doing about it. Dri still didn’t know about Dean, but he grew concerned enough about Cas’ behavior to start insisting he get more sleep and watch what he ate more closely.

It wasn’t that Cas was opposed to being attracted to Dean, specifically. He didn’t give a shit about guys vs girls, and Dean was an incredibly attractive man, with the added bonus of not being put into any sort of extra danger by spending time with a hunter. It wasn’t even the concern that Dean talked about girls a lot and very possibly wasn’t interested in him that way; Cas could accept being caught in a case of unrequited love. There were far worse things.

Cas was just opposed to the idea of getting involved with - or even interested in - anybody. At all. Under any circumstances. Not after Meg.

He’d been with a few people over the years, but it had been one night hookups where they both left the next morning and didn’t exchange phone numbers or last names or anything else. Half the time, there had been a lot of alcohol involved. There hadn’t been one single relationship, and he hadn’t wanted one. He wasn’t sure he wanted one _now._

All he was sure of was that his heart started beating a little faster when he thought about Dean Winchester.

And that was going to get him in a lot of trouble. Just for starters, there was the fact that Dri would go through the fucking roof if he found out. And if the rest of the Novaks knew… Well, Cas knew that Michael, at least, was still holding onto the faint hope that he would fall in love with someone perfectly normal and give up the life for good. Cas supposed he was enough of a hopeless romantic for the theory to be plausible, but he didn’t exactly have a lot of opportunities to stumble across love.

Unless it was with Dean Winchester in some diner in Vermont, apparently.

A week and a half after Dean and Cas had cheeseburgers in a restaurant in West Virginia, Dean called from Kentucky.

Cas found he and Dri a hunt nearby almost without thinking about it, and he managed to feel only marginal guilt at the fact that Dri was completely oblivious to the fact that Cas had ulterior motives for going there.

So easily that Cas hardly even noticed it was happening, they fell into a routine. They were seeing each other every few weeks in no time, then more and more often as they started searching for hunts together to ensure that there would be two in the same general area. It came to be an art form, finding places close enough that they could easily meet, but far enough that Dri wouldn’t catch wind of the other hunt or accidentally run into Sam, Dean, or Benny.

“Does _your_ brother know about… What we’re doing?” Cas had almost said ‘about us’ but he wasn’t entirely certain what ‘us’ entailed at this point, and wasn’t quite ready to ask.

Dean nodded. “He and Benny finally asked where I was going, like, a month ago. They think I’m crazy, but they’re fine with it.” He hesitated, and a look came over his face like he thought he’d done something awful. “That’s okay, right? I mean, I know we’re kind of sneaking around, but I figured-”

“It’s fine, Dean. I don’t want to tell Dri right now, but you can tell anyone you want. That’s your own business. And it’s not like we’re doing anything wrong. We’re just trying to spare me the pain of my brother’s bad temper.”

“Yeah. We’re not doing anything wrong,” Dean echoed, and he sounded nervous.

“Dean? Is something wrong?”

“Wrong? No, I just- Well, I- No, nothing’s wrong. We’re good. We’re good.”

“…Uh-huh.” Cas didn’t believe him for a moment. Dean was an awful liar, he had discovered. Worse than Dri, and worse than Dri claimed Cas was. It was like he didn’t even _try._ He let Dean believe he’d been believable, however. Dean didn’t press topics that Cas didn’t want to talk about, it was only right that Cas return the favor. “Why do they think you’re crazy?”

“Because it’s weird for me to take time out of a hunt for anything. Especially a guy I’ve only known for a few months and who’s a hunter, with a little brother who probably wants to shoot me just on general principle.”

Not a bad appraisal of Samandriel, if Cas was being honest. He loved his brother to death, but he knew that Dri took some getting used to. Like, be locked in a room with him for a year straight sort of getting used to. If you both survived the experience, then maybe you stood a chance at being friends.

Cas would like if Dri and Dean got along, but he wasn’t going to put them through that to accomplish it. He’d find a way to tell Dri that he and Dean were still friends one of these days. He wasn’t going to mention the crush though. That was like getting down on your knees and begging someone to slash out your throat. A suicidal and idiotic idea with no possible available gain.

Even if the crush may, possibly, have passed on into infatuation. He wanted to know everything about Dean, and had avidly listened as Dean talked about his brother, his dad, his car, his brother, Benny, his brother again, and pie, which he held an unhealthy love of. It had taken an unholy amount of self-control to keep Cas from reaching across the table and holding Dean’s hand the one time he had mentioned his mom.

It was a problem.

Dean snapped Cas out of his thoughts with a loud slurp of his soda. “Are you going to eat your fries?” he asked, even as he reached across the table and snatched a handful off Cas’ plate.

“Apparently not.”

Dean grinned around a mouthful of food. It should have been revolting, and it was, but it was oddly endearing too. Which was also revolting.

“You can tell me to stop,” Dean told him, reaching for more.  


In response, Cas leaned over, fork in hand, and pulled back with a bite of Dean’s pie.

The look Dean gave him was pure grief and betrayal.

“I can’t believe you just did that.”

Cas held the fork in between them as a silent challenge. “What are you going to do about it?”

And Dean leaned over and ate the piece of pie right off Cas’ fork.

They made eye contact across the table as he swallowed, and everything in the room seemed to go dead around them.

“I should - I should go-” Dean scrambled out of his seat and bolted away. He hit a table on the way out and forgot to pay for his meal.

* * *

 

On the drive back to his and Dri’s motel, Cas was seriously considering telling Dri that he’d been meeting up with Dean so his brother could give an unbiased opinion on whether or not the sexual tension was all in Cas’ head.

Although it was unlikely that Dri would be so helpful. He probably wouldn’t manage to get past the ‘you’re friends with that Winchester jackass’ part of the conversation long enough for Castiel to even bring it up.

One of these days Cas was going to need to confront Dri about his jealousy issues. He got where his brother was coming from, he really did; what with Dri’s inability to really have much of a social life and everything that had happened with Adam, Cas would have been more concerned if Dri _hadn’t_ ended up with a couple of issues.

But now that Cas wanted consistent interaction with another person - a person he already knew Dri didn’t like - it seemed to be much more a problem than it ever had before. Hell, there’d been a few times when Cas had used Dri’s aggression to his advantage to help him get rid of exceptionally creepy people that he’d perhaps been a little too nice to when they’d first introduced themselves to him. It had certainly never nagged at Cas like this before.

He’d have to tell him, Cas acknowledged. Sooner rather than later. If Dri felt that Cas had been lying to him for a long time, he’d be even more hurt. It had already been a few months, so the time frame was probably looking at sooner.

Only if whatever had happened while in that restaurant didn’t completely destroy whatever it was that he and Dean had been working towards. It had certainly _felt_ like the room had suddenly been filled with obscene amounts of sexual tension, but Cas wasn’t certain if that was because they were both interested in each other and unsure what to do about it, or if had been because Dean had somehow picked up on Cas’ interest and bolted because he was so very not interested.

He hoped it wasn’t the latter. That would be both painfully awkward and crushingly disappointing.

Music started playing from Cas’ pocket, and he nearly swerved his car off the road fumbling to get to his phone.

“Hello?”

“What the hell did you to do to my brother?” Sam Winchester asked, sounding both angrily protective and amused. Perhaps Dean was still stumbling around.

“What do you mean?”

“He keeps pacing around in circles and he ran into a car two minutes ago and I’m pretty sure he didn’t notice it. What happened?”

Cas wasn’t sure what he was supposed to tell him. He wouldn’t buy it if Cas said that nothing had occurred, but telling Dean’s little brother that the two of them may or may not have had a sexually charged encounter involving Dean eating his own pie off of Cas’ fork didn’t sound like a particularly pleasant conversation.

“Uh… What did he say?”

Sam huffed in what might have been the beginnings of a laugh. “He stuttered your name and the word ‘I’ a lot and said something about pie. I should have taken a picture, he went a great shade of red.”

“Oh. Well, we-” Cas stopped dead, realizing that he still had no idea what he should say.

“Cas,” Sam said sternly. “I don’t know if it’s obvious to you, since you’ve only known him for a couple of months, but Dean is an idiot when it comes to anything that doesn’t involve killing or food. If you want to have a conversation regarding feelings with him, you’re going to have to pin him down to make him listen to you.”

Cas sort of wished that Sam had chosen different words, because now he was thinking about pinning Dean down underneath him, and it was definitely going to take him awhile to get the unhelpful image out of his head. “And what do you think I want to say to him?” Cas asked, choosing his words carefully.

“I don’t know, and I have this feeling that I probably don’t want to. Just… Say it, whatever it is? Otherwise he’s going to start sulking once he’s done feeling awkward and nervous, and I’m not sure which is worse.”

“But what if he-”

“Cas, I’m going to overstep my boundaries here, okay? Are you interested in my brother?”

Cas swallowed the impulse to ask what Sam meant by interested, well aware that they both knew the answer to that. “… Maybe? I’m not entirely certain yet. I think so?”

“Well, I think the same goes for him. He actually asked how he’d look with a lip piercing once, Cas. Dean gets stupid ideas into his head when he’s interested in someone. And he’s been talking to you for _months_ , which has got to be some sort of record for anyone who isn’t family, Benny, or people at the Roadhouse. Call him, would you? For the sake of my sanity, if nothing else.”

“Uh… Yeah. Okay.”

“Thanks, man. See you around.” And Sam hung up the phone.

Cas, who had never had any real qualms about talking on his phone while driving, pulled over to the side of the road and stared at his phone, trying to work up the nerve to do as he’d said he would. How was he supposed to communicate whatever it was that he was feeling when he wasn’t entirely sure about what that was himself? Sam seemed to have gotten it into his head that Cas was somehow good at dealing with emotions and feelings and communications, and Cas couldn’t imagine where he’d gotten the idea from. He was better at it than Dri, and apparently he was thought to be better at it than Dean, but that was still setting the bar pretty damn low.

He flipped through his contacts for Dean’s name, hovering over it once he found it. Maybe he could tell Dri, tell him it had all been a terrible mistake, Dri was absolutely right about associating with hunters - that would appease him, probably - and they could take off, get new phones, and determinedly avoid the Winchesters for the rest of their lives.

He laid his arms across the top of the steering wheel and rested his head on them. He officially could no longer criticize Samandriel in any way for running away from his problems. He hadn’t had much of a case before, but at least before he’d always ran away with the full intention of finding other problems that he had convinced himself would help with the original problem. Not contemplating going off the radar to avoid having to have an uncomfortable conversation with a guy he liked, who may or may not like him back.

“Hello?”

Cas froze as the words distantly came through his phone and he looked down to see that he’d inadvertently hit the ‘call’ button while still hovered over Dean’s name.

“Cas? You there?”

Well, that solved _that_ part of his dilemma, anyway. He brought the phone to his ear and cleared his throat. “Hello, Dean.”

“Hi. What’s up?” The words were typical, but his tone still sounded forced and a little higher than usual, like Dean was still nervous. Castiel could perfectly picture him rubbing idly at the back of his neck as he spoke.

“Well, I was… Are you alright? You seemed… flustered, when you left the restaurant.”

“Oh. Yeah. Sorry about that. Oh, shit, I forgot to pay, didn’t I? I can pay you back, man, just tell me-”

“It’s fine, Dean. But I was worried. Is everything okay?”

“Sure, Cas. Everything’s fine.”

“I’m glad. I’d hate to think that things were going to become tense between the two of us. I really enjoy spending time with you, and I wouldn’t like having to stop.”

“Yeah?” Dean sounded a little happier at that, if mildly embarrassed. Cas wondered if he was blushing, and smiled at the image. “That’s good to hear. I… like spending time with you two. You’re good company, you know?”

“I’m glad that you think so.” Cas took a deep breath, steeling himself. If the opportunity was going to be right there, he wasn’t going to bypass it in favor of putting a thin and impermanent patch on his and Dean’s friendship. “Would you like to go on a date, Dean?”

There was dead silence on the other end, and it took everything Cas had to not take it back as a poorly delivered joke.

“A date?” Dean repeated, voice so casual that Cas knew he was nervous - which hopefully meant that he was interested.

“Yeah. Like what we’ve been doing, but… romantically?”

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, sure. I could- I mean, _we_ could do that. It’d be fun.”

Cas smiled as he listened to Dean’s attempts to not begin babbling over the phone. “How about coffee?”

* * *

 

“Your brother’s going to be pretty pissed about this, huh?” Dean asked, smiling at Cas over his cup of coffee in a way that made Cas think of a giddy teenager on their first date. It was giving him butterflies.

Cas chuckled. “Believe me, I’m well aware of that. I’m still working on finding a way to clue him in without him losing his shit.”

“About me, or about you lying to him?”

“Both.”

They laughed.

Their meetings, which continued to take place with Cas sneaking around behind Dri’s back, slowly increased in frequency.

Their third date - a word that made Cas work to resist the urge to giggle like a schoolgirl - lasted two and a half hours, and they somehow ended up touching hands across the table. Not quite holding hands, but their hands rested on top of each other’s for twenty minutes as they talked. Cas had wanted to shift to turn it into hand holding, but had been afraid the motion might cause Dean to pull away. He was clearly less certain about entering the dating scene than Cas was.

After five dates, just over a month since Cas had asked him for the first one, Dean had leaned over and kissed him before getting in the Impala and peeling out of the parking lot. Cas had been too stunned to respond in time, and it had been over almost before Cas realized what Dean was doing.

Cas didn’t even wait for them to get into the restaurant they were meeting at the next time. He pulled Dean in for a kiss, determined to get his money’s worth this time. Dean had gone still for the first second or two, but then he was kissing back with just as much enthusiasm as Cas was giving out.

It took them an hour just to get to dinner that night.

Two dates after that, they were meeting for coffee. Cas had slipped out of the motel before Dri woke up, leaving a note saying that he couldn’t sleep and was going to go for a drive to find breakfast and clear his head.

Dean looked like death warmed over, but he still smiled when he saw Cas.

“I vote for no more early morning meetings.”

“Are you getting too old to get out of bed these days? Is twenty-nine the new forty?” Cas teased.

Dean glared at him. “Laugh while you can. One of these days you’ll find a premature gray hair, and I will not be supportive.”

“I think I’d survive. Gray hair can look pretty bad-ass. Especially if the rest of your hair is black.” Cas thought for a moment. “If my hair starts going gray while I’m still young, I’m definitely growing it out.”

Dean raised an eyebrow, looking at Cas’ shaggy haircut, which was already plenty long enough to completely cover his ears and was inching towards his shoulders. “Grow it out? It’s already longer than Sam’s.”

“That’s at least partially because it’s straighter. But I like my hair longer than this. It’s just that it’s harder to convince people you’re a professional with long hair, for some reason. Same with tattoos and piercings.”

“Maybe you should team up with us,” Dean offered. “We’ll do all the professional work and you and your brother can dig up the graves.”

“Thank you, Dean,” Cas told him dryly. “I appreciate it.”

Dean’s shit-eating grin earned him an eye-roll.

“What would you think of me in a ponytail?” Cas asked thoughtfully.

“A ponytail?”

“Yeah. I’ve thought about a mullet before, but I don’t think anyone but Ash could pull that off in this decade. Or maybe a side-cut. Those are cool.”

“You always think about your hair this much?”

“Oh, you should see me trying to decide on tattoos. Even Dri thinks I put much thought into it, which is amazing. And a little bit scary, I suppose.”

“I’d like to see your tattoos.”

Cas stopped talking and his brain ground to a halt, obstructed by the idea of him shirtless in front of Dean, which would undoubtedly lead to Dean being shirtless too, and… He shouldn’t let his mind wander there in a public place.

Cas smiled, feeling his face grow hot and hoping the blush wasn’t too embarrassingly obvious. “I’d like to show them to you.”

Dean took a gulp of his coffee and tossed the empty cup away into the nearest trash can. “When are you free to spend the night?”

Another voice broke in before Cas had a response.

“What the _fuck_ is going on?”

Cas jumped at the voice that he could have recognized anywhere. He looked up slowly, as though it was possible for the person he knew was there to suddenly vanish and develop a case of temporary amnesia.

No such luck. Dri was standing next to their table, practically shaking with anger. Cas winced.

“Dri.”

“Cas. What. The hell. Is going on.”

“I, uh-” Cas looked at Dean, who was watching the exchange silently. Cas half wished that he’d swoop in and find a way to pull Cas out of the hole he knew he’d dug for himself. “I’m having coffee with Dean.”

“And he’s asking you to take your shirt off. I got that much. How long have you-” He broke up as his voice started shaking and gritted his teeth together.

“Dri, it’s not like-”

“Not like what? Not like you’ve been lying to me? For how long, Cas? Since Vermont? So you could sneak around with _him_?”

“Hey!” Dean protested at the way Dri had spat out the word him like Dean was the worst sort of person one could possibly choose as a friend.

“I was trying to avoid an argument,” Cas snapped, despite being fully aware that Dri was more upset now than he would have been initially. Not telling him had only been a short-term avoidance of a conflict.

“Well, you sure did a fucking fantastic job with that, didn’t you?”

“Dri, can we not have this discussion here?”

“Not have it here? What, don’t want to have to argue with me in front of your new boyfriend? Fine. See if I care. I’ll see you back at the motel, Castiel.”

Dri stormed out of the coffee shop.

Cas looked apologetically at Dean, trying not to pay attention to the other people in the shop who were staring at them. “I should go after him.”

Dean nodded. “Good luck.”

“Thanks.” Cas looked up at the door Dri had just slammed shut behind him. “I think I’m going to need it.”


	8. Strike A Violent Pose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Samandriel has issues with anger and communication and definitely needs that therapist I mentioned.

Samandriel threw the money he owed his cab driver at the man more aggressively than was necessary and stormed into his and Castiel’s motel room.

He wanted to scream. His brain was playing back every moment he and Cas had split up since leaving Vermont, every time Cas’ phone had rang and he’d left the room to answer it, asking himself if each of those times it had been Dean, wondering exactly how many times Cas had looked Dri in the eye and lied to him and he hadn’t had the faintest idea.

If he didn’t scream, he might throw up. Cas had always been the one person he could trust; the one person who had never given him a reason to doubt where they stood in relation to each other.

It had been Cas who had understood how Dri had felt when Hael had stopped speaking to him; Cas who had supported him through everything that had happened with Adam, right down to offering to eviscerate him. Cas had been at Dri’s side through anything he needed; the only exception being that first year of hunting. That year had hurt, but Dri had understood. Losing Meg had put Cas in a bad place for awhile.

Cas didn’t have any such explanation this time, and at least after Meg Cas hadn’t lied to him.

The door opened and Cas shuffled in, biting his lip and fidgeting with his collar. He gently clicked the door shut behind him. “Hey, Dri.”

“Hi.” Dri wasn’t sure if he was more angry or hurt, but he was holding his head high and standing straight. No way in hell was he going to break down in front of his brother right now.

“Look, Dri,” Cas said after a minute or two of them silently watching each other. “I didn’t want you to find out about Dean and I like that.”

“Really? Because I don’t think you wanted me to find out about you and Dean at all. It’s been months since we left Vermont, Cas. Have you been lying to me that whole time?”

Cas winced, which was as bad as a confirmation. “Dri, it wasn’t-”

“Castiel, I swear to God, if you say ‘it wasn’t like that’ I will knock your teeth out. It was exactly like that. Christ, Cas, I know I told you I don’t like the guy, but your response was to sneak around and start dating the guy behind my back?”

“It’s not like I meant to.”

“Which part? You didn’t mean to lie? Or you didn’t mean to start dating him? Because either way I’m really not convinced that it just happened on accident.”

“Dri, don’t you think you’re overreacting a little?”

“No, I don’t! You lied to me, Cas! I thought I could trust you!”

Castiel was looking less and less guilty now, anger taking it’s place. “For fuck’s sake, Dri, you’re acting like I could have gotten you killed or something. I lied about going to meet Dean, okay? Are you happy now? I lied. Because I knew you’d freak out, and I didn’t feel like trying to get you to pull your head out of your ass. This isn’t about you, Dri, suck it up.”

But that wasn’t what Dri was trying to say at all. He could acknowledge he’d probably have been pissed about Dean if Cas told him. Almost definitely would have been. He might have sulked about it for awhile, and asked what the hell Cas saw in the guy. But it wouldn’t have been like this. If Cas had told him, Dri wouldn’t be feeling like he’d been stabbed in the back.

“Part of it’s about me!” was what came out instead. “You lied to me! You’re my brother, and you’re my hunting partner, I’m supposed to be able to trust your word when you tell me where you’re going. Not walk into some two-bit coffee shop and see you talking with the guy you specifically said you weren’t going to keep talking to, while he asks you if you’re going to take your shirt off for him!”

“You weren’t supposed to hear that.”

“Obviously.”

“This still isn’t about you, Samandriel,” Cas said, and Dri’s stomach dropped as he recognized the tone. Demons had nightmares about that tone, and once Cas started using it no one, not even Michael or Anna or Dri, could change his mind about what he was saying. “This is about me and Dean. That’s it. And yeah, maybe I shouldn’t have lied to you. Maybe I should have told you what was going on sooner. But that doesn’t mean you have any right to take some self-righteous attitude and try to play victim!”

“I’m not trying to be a victim! Jesus, would a decent apology kill you? You lied to me, Cas! You were the one person I-”

“It was none of your damn business!”

Barely aware of his own movements, Dri knocked the lamp off the nightstand with one angry motion, not paying any attention to where the glass shards fell. “It is my business! I’m your brother, and your partner! We’re supposed to have each others backs!”

“So I need your permission to date now? Do I have to give you a call every time I see someone I might be interested in? Would that make you calm down?”

“You don’t need my permission, but I deserve to not be lied to! You don’t just go off behind my back and try to play it off like it’s no big deal!”

Cas shook his head and moved to his half of the room. “You know what, Dri? You need to work out your attitude. I don’t owe you shit.” He stood up, his duffel bag slung over one shoulder, all his belongings inside it. “I think some time solo would do you some good. Call me when you’re done with your tantrum.”

Cas strode out of the room, slamming the door behind him hard enough to make the windows rattle. Dri stood between the beds in shock, still standing in the remains of the broken lamp. Cas had done what he had once sworn he’d never do to Dri again - he’d left him.

* * *

Dri remained standing in the broken glass for a few minutes, numbly expecting Cas to come back in and apologize and they’d talk it out. But he didn’t, and Dri could feel his own anger still boiling just under the surface; building and building until it was probably a good thing Cas had stormed out or Dri might have escalated from knocking lamps over to firing off rounds.

He shook the glass off his boots and packed up his own bag. He got himself a rental car, peeled out of town on two wheels, and, in a moment of anger that he distantly realized he would probably regret later, he hurled his phone out the window onto the highway. Cas hadn’t ever picked up while he was hunting alone, and a petulant part of Samandriel had decided that he didn’t need to either. Let Cas worry. It would serve him right.

He plugged his iPod into the rental’s sound system, and started blasting ‘We May Be Cruel’ loudly enough to knock out his eardrums.

It wasn’t like he really needed Castiel anyway. He could hunt perfectly well on his own. Plenty of hunters worked alone. And Dri was a natural anyway. He and Cas had gotten their parents’ hunting abilities, even if they were the two Novaks who remembered them least.

He could take care of himself. Damn good thing too, because between Hael, Adam, and now Cas, as well as the general ‘you're wasting your life’ attitude of the rest of his family, Dri was good and ready to be left alone. People were more trouble than they were worth.

That’s what he kept telling himself, anyway, shutting out the nagging voice that seemed to think he needed to be reminded of the fact that he was an incredibly social person for someone who couldn’t make a friend if his life depended on it. He was just an idiot sometimes, that was all. He’d been cursed since he was born to not have any real connections with people; it was about time he just accepted it and learned to deal with it instead of clinging on to Cas - the jackass - and hoping he wouldn’t leave.

Especially now that he’d left.

Samandriel pulled up to a bar once the sun was set, deciding that he wasn’t going to be sleeping that night without copious amounts of alcohol in his system. Fuck healthy.

His bad mood must have shown on his face, because the bartender opened his mouth to demand I.D., changed his mind, and handed over Dri’s whiskey. He took a larger swallow than usual, not minding the burn as it went down.

“Day that bad, huh?” the bartender asked with a sympathetic grin. Samandriel scowled at him; he had a natural distrust of bartenders.

“And I take it it’s not getting any better,” the man said in reply to the scowl, seemingly not offended. “Next shot’s on me.”

Samandriel eyed him warily. “And what are you getting out of it?”

He shrugged. “Do I have to be after something?”

“No. But people always are anyway.”

“Bit young to be such a cynic, aren’t you, kid?”

“I’m not a kid.”

“Sorry.” The bartender reached a hand across the bar. “I’m Inias.”

Dri raised an eyebrow at the name and returned the handshake. “Samandriel.”

“Now there’s a mouthful. What’s it mean?”

Dri shrugged, taking a drink. “It’s just a name.”

“Come on, your parents saddle you with something that bizarre and you don’t bother to ask about it?”

“What, and Inias isn’t weird?”

The guy shrugged, grinning. He was attractive, Dri could admit. Long dark hair, sort of scruffy, and providing alcohol - what more could one ask for? “My parents were foreign. What’s your excuse?”

Samandriel took a few more sips of his drink, considering, before giving his reply. “My brother’s name is Lucifer.”

Inias blinked at him, realized that he wasn’t kidding, and barked a laugh. “You serious? Lucifer? God, you got off lucky, ki- Samandriel.”

He rolled his eyes and scoffed. “Or so they keep telling me.”

“So what happened? Dick boyfriend?” Inias filled his glass up again and Dri realized he had no idea how much alcohol he’d had. He started sipping at his drink more cautiously.

“No. Well, yeah, but that was a couple of years ago. Today’s a dick brother.” He hesitated, not sure why that had spilled out. “Why’d you say boyfriend?”

Inias shrugged one shoulder and leaned over the bar so his face was only a few inches from Dri’s. “Just hoping I’d get lucky, I guess.”

Dri set his glass down with short, defined movements that were harder than they should have been, and pushed it back across the bar. “I’m done drinking. How much do I owe you?”

“A little more conversation, maybe?”

“Don’t you have other customers to serve?”

“It’s practically empty in here, Samandriel,” Inias said, gesturing around the bar. Samandriel looked around to see that it was true; there was an old man pouring himself glass after glass from a bottle of rum in the corner, and a middle-aged couple making out between shots in a booth, but that was it.

“Oh.” Samandriel pushed himself back from the bar, fumbling for his wallet. “I’m going to go.”

“What? No, come on, stay a little longer.”

Dri tossed some cash on the counter, without any idea how much it was and really not caring. “No thanks. Not into bartenders.” He bolted from the bar, ignoring Inias’s protests behind him, stumbling to his car and pulling away with no thought to how pissed Cas would be at him for driving while this drunk.

Well, maybe a little thought to it.

He managed to make it to a motel and check in without too many odd looks from the man behind the desk. He collapsed onto the bed, dropping his bag carelessly at his side, clutching one of his knives to his chest.

He needed to start watching how much he drank around strangers. He could do without spilling his guts to a decently-attractive bartender again. Adam had been plenty enough of that.

Maybe that was unfair. Maybe Inias had been a perfectly nice guy who was now sitting behind the bar, feeling dejected. Samandriel did his best not to care. The last thing he needed right now was to get a boyfriend and start repeating mistakes he’d already made once.

Dri fell into an uneasy sleep, grip on his knife tightening at the thought that tonight would be the first night of his life without one of his family members within shouting distance.

* * *

The next morning, feeling hungover but otherwise unaffected by the day before, Samandriel realized that he wasn’t entirely certain what he was planning to do next. Hunt on his own, he supposed, but the idea didn’t really appeal to him. It was better than not hunting at all, as far as he was concerned, but it sounded lonely and dangerous.

Still, it wasn’t like he needed Cas. He didn’t. He could hunt perfectly fine by himself. Hell, he’d make Cas jealous.

He opened his laptop, intently focusing on that motivation and telling himself that he definitely didn’t miss his brother, because his brother was a dick who didn’t deserve to be missed. The part of his brain telling him it was his own damn fault and what did he expect, really, he couldn’t hold onto anything, was shoved away. He’d gotten good at that sort of thing over the years. Let his subconscious deal with his issues, he’d deal with the real life monsters.

It wasn’t like he couldn’t do this on his own, something he knew from experience, not just pride. There had been times when Cas had gotten injured, or they’d ended up split up for one reason or another, and Dri had done just fine. It was a little scarier, the adrenaline rushed higher, his heart pounded until it hurt, but he’d done it. The increased adrenaline was almost a plus, anyway. He loved hunting for the thrill of it, after all. It was like a drug.

After an hour or so of web surfing, frequently interrupted by the CSI reruns playing on the T.V. in front of him, Dri had found himself a few options for potential hunts, all far away from anywhere he thought he might accidentally run into Cas or his new best friends. It was a big country; Cas, the Winchesters, and that stupid vampire could keep on their half of it.

Dri reached for his phone with the intention of calling around under a reporter’s guise to get more information. He looked for it for a good thirty seconds before remembering that he’d thrown it out the car window the night before; an action which, though still emotionally satisfying, was probably pretty stupid.

Whatever. He’d just pick up a cheap new one for now. It was no big deal, so long as Michael didn’t try to call him. If Michael ever found out that he and Cas had split up, he’d kill them both. He’d find out eventually, but Dri figured he’d just have to burn that bridge when he got to it.

Samandriel checked himself out of the motel, found himself a cheap cell phone that would do it’s job just fine, and spent most of the day driving.

Driving was probably one of the worst parts of hunting, especially now that he was alone. It was easy to stop thinking while trying to puzzle something out, or when all his energy was channeled into staying alive, or while absolutely wasted, but his mind tended to wander while he was in the car, and now there was no Castiel to distract him.

His mind - being the fucking traitor that it was - seemed to have decided he needed to relive a play-by-play of his fight with Cas, frequently pausing to show him what he should have done differently, finally giving him the words that might have helped him explain why he was so upset.

Samandriel gritted his teeth together so hard that his jaw ached, cranked up the stereo until his head started pounding, and thought about how good it would feel to dispose of the shapeshifter he was fairly certain was waiting for him. He thought he’d use knives for this one.

There was something far more emotionally satisfying about being up close and personal for a kill, rather than shooting a bullet from across a room. It was one of the benefits of hunting vampires, or going after demons with Cas’ special knife. Ghosts were all well and good, but burning a body just didn’t have the same effect as actively killing something that needed to be killed.

Dri whirled through the beginning of the hunt the next day, operating under the guise of being a reporter; partially because he didn’t want to have to cover his tattoos, mostly because most of his fake IDs were in Cas’ car.

It was a shapeshifter, and Dri tracked it back to where it was living in the sewer system by nightfall. He hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep for two days now, going on three, and if Cas had been there he’d have insisted Dri get some rest first, or at least not go alone, but Cas wasn’t there and Dri couldn’t bring himself to much care about his personal safety right at that moment.

Dri found the thing’s lair - it was an evil monster, of course he had to call it a lair - but it wasn’t around. He looked around, drawing his silver knife and preparing to wait it out.

A few minutes later, a low whistle broke the quiet.

“Lots of issues rattling around in this head of yours,” said a voice that belonged to Samandriel but didn’t come from his mouth.

Dri spun around and locked eyes with himself, standing maybe twenty feet away. The shifter’s clothes didn’t fit quite right, and he held himself differently than Samandriel did, but it was eerie all the same.

“You think wearing my face is going to stop me from killing you?”

The thing shrugged easily, seemingly unconcerned by the hunter or the silver blade he was holding. “Sometimes it helps.” It chuckled. “But now that I’m getting into some of these memories of yours… Good lord, I’m starting to think it’ll just motivate you. Like I said, lots of issues. You still missing Adam?”

“Shut up.”

“Ooh, did I hit a sore spot?”

Dri bit back another ‘shut up,’ knowing the thing wearing his face wouldn’t be intimidated by it in the least. “Doesn’t really matter, does it?” he asked instead. “You’ll be dead pretty soon, after all.”

It shrugged again and grinned. Samandriel hadn’t known his face was capable of that expression. “Well, one of us will be, at least.”

“Then how about you quit lurking over there and we'll figure out which one of us it’s going to be?”

“In such a rush, Samandriel. Wouldn’t you like to talk first? We could discuss that darling brother of yours. That must be depressing, knowing you can’t even hold on to the brother that hasn’t been interested in another human being since his girlfriend got herself killed. You must be terrible company.”

“What are you, my therapist?” Samandriel started moving towards the shapeshifter, resisting the urge to leap towards it, knowing that would just be giving the thing what it wanted. If Dri moved too fast, he’d be giving it the upper hand.

“No, but heaven knows you could use one. You’re nothing but twenty-one years worth of tragic back story and alcohol abuse. No wonder you hunt; you couldn’t manage to do anything else if your life depended on it.”

Dri lunged, but the shifter spun out of the way, escaping with nothing more than a small tear through its shirt. It laughed, grinning at him. “Is that the best you have, Samandriel? No wonder your brother didn’t want to hunt with you anymore.”

Dri jumped after it again. He feigned left, dodged its responding punch, and slashed at its side, drawing blood this time. It wasn’t enough to be fatal, or even exceptionally crippling, but the shifter hissed in pain at the touch of silver and backed away from him.

“I’m just getting warmed up,” Samandriel told it. “Unless you want to give up now? I’d make it quicker that way, promise.”

“I’ll pass,” it said with a sneer. “You should have brought a gun along, Samandriel. Your little silver toothpick isn’t going to get the job done.”

“Oh, I brought a gun,” Dri told it, left hand falling to where it was resting on his hip. “I just prefer to do things personally, you know? A gun makes me feel like I didn’t put in enough effort.”

“Good to know you put more thought into your killings than your relationships.” It grinned wider than Samandriel thought he could, clearly pleased with itself, and darted around Dri to where it kept its own stash of weaponry. It straightened and faced him again, holding a knife of its own. “Have to keep it fair, don’t we?”

“Works for me.”

They lunged for each other’s throats then, inhuman snarls coming from both their throats, pitch matching perfectly. The shifter caught Dri’s left shoulder with an inhumanly strong fist and a shooting pain implied a dislocation.

His adrenaline effortlessly pushed the pain out of mind after only a second of acknowledging it, and he swiped out with his knife, slicing deep enough to draw blood from the shifter’s arm. It snarled at him, twisting his face into something not quite human. Samandriel’s eyes glinted an unnatural color at him from the imposter’s face.

Samandriel - the real one - snarled right back, and lunged again. It moved faster than him and caught him by the arm, reeling him in like a fish on a line.

“That impulsiveness will get you killed someday, Samandriel,” it said in a sing-song voice. Then the voice dropped to something more menacing but no less amused. “You know, like today.”

It moved to drive the knife into his ribs, Dri took advantage of its momentarily loosened grip to twist around, and his own knife met the shifter’s ribs instead. It’s eyes widened in surprise and the knife clattered harmlessly from its fingers.

Samandriel twisted and pulled back, drawing the knife out and letting the shifter fall lifelessly to the ground. He gingerly felt his shoulder - definitely dislocated - and looked down at the corpse wearing his face.

He felt pretty damn proud of himself.

* * *

Samandriel’s hunting fell into a fast-paced rhythm for the next month. He found a hunt, he investigated, he hunted, he killed, and then he was gone again. He passed out in exhaustion almost every night, because if he tried to go to bed before he was about to drop he couldn’t get to sleep. He didn’t call Cas, and he made sure to put his phone somewhere difficult to get to anytime he drank, just in case he got the urge to. He didn’t call home. He barely spoke to anyone unless they were part of his hunt. He smoked through packs of cigarettes at three times his usual speed.

Michael would have called it an unhealthy coping mechanism. Lucifer would have called it childish. Dri called it efficient. The eastern half of the United States was going to run out of monsters before he was through, at this rate. Just so long as it stayed free of Winchesters and his brother, Dri didn’t really care about much else.

Samandriel swung into a motel parking lot in some city he’d already forgotten the name of in Tennessee, checked in with minimal conversation, and sat on the end of his bed with a cigarette.

He’d never really been huge on excessive smoking before. He had one every now and then, maybe three or four times a week, but now he was smoking two or three times a day, frequently going through multiple cigarettes each time.

It was a coping mechanism, he knew, because he’d done the exact same thing immediately after Adam. Try as he might, however, he didn’t care.

Not that he was trying particularly hard. Killing things, drinking alcohol, and smoking cigarettes was a lot more fun than dealing with how much he missed Cas and wanted to apologize. A thick-headed, idiotic part of him wouldn’t let him call though, insisting that Cas had to be the one to apologize. Never mind that Cas had no way to get in contact with him. That was an irrelevant detail that couldn’t be bothered with.

The combination of all his bad habits was killing his head. He rubbed at his temples, trying to focus as he spoke to a woman whose dead husband seemed to be terrorizing a small business that had opened up shop a few weeks earlier.

“Did your husband have any connection with the bookstore that’s down on 8th Street?”

The old woman shook her head, then paused. “Well, in a way, I suppose. It used to be a flower shop until just a few months ago, you see. Christopher used to buy me flowers from them every Monday on his way home from work. He was furious when they closed down, kept saying he’d have words with the new owners. He died before the place was sold though. Why do you ask?”

“Idle curiosity,” Dri said dismissively, wondering if he had any Advil in the car. His motel was a good twenty minutes away and his head was pounding. “Where was your husband buried?”

“Franklin Cemetery.”

Dri thanked the woman and made his escape, dodging her attempts to give him more tea. For the life of him, he couldn’t work out what the deal was with old ladies and tea. Nobody should like tea that much.

At any rate, he had the location of the body he was after, as well as the ghost’s motives, if that proved important, and all that was left now was to wait until the sun went down so he could sneak into the graveyard. There wasn’t any real strict time limit on this hunt; the ghost was being a pain in the ass and scaring the people in the bookstore out of their wits, but no one had gotten hurt yet.

There was some pain medicine in his car, as it turned out, and he dry-swallowed three pills with a wince before driving away. He figured he’d find somewhere to grab a sandwich and have a cigarette, then head out to the cemetery. The shovel, salt, and gasoline were already in the trunk, waiting.

The couple of hours passed quickly and uneventfully enough, and Samandriel was only too happy to finally head out in search of Christopher Maler’s grave. The sooner he found it, the sooner he’d be out of town and off to wherever he was headed next.

Unfortunately for him, the ghost caught on to what he was doing right around the time he was dumping in the salt.

The air went frigid. Dri reached for his shotgun, his fingers grazed along it, and then he was being hurled into the tombstone. There was a loud crack, and Dri could only hope it had been the stone and not his bones. He struggled back to his feet and jumped for the gasoline. This was really the time when having a partner came in handy. Ghosts were powerful, but they could usually only go after one person at a time.

He got the dug-up grave pretty well soaked in the gas before he was shoved into it. Christopher’s bones snapped underneath him, and when he pulled in a short gasp at the impact he became almost positive that he had some injured ribs from the collision with the tombstone. The wonders of adrenaline would never cease to amaze him.

Still, it wasn’t like the ghost had taken him somewhere he didn’t want to be. He fumbled for his lighter. Once it was lit, he lowered it towards the body. The gasoline caught, flames shot up, and the ghost, with an angry scream, threw one more hit. The back of Dri’s head cracked against the coffin’s wooden lid and his vision blurred for a minute.

A biting pain at his ankle called for his attention, and he abruptly remembered that he was standing on top of a fire. Dri hauled himself back out of the grave with immense effort, drawing blood from his lip as he bit down on it in an effort to ignore his protesting ribs and head. Once free, he rolled a few times to put out the flames.

Dri sat in the dark graveyard, chest heaving, for a few minutes. Christopher seemed to have vanished, so at least the hunt was done. He could limp back to his motel, patch himself up, and get out of town. Easy.

He took a deep breath that he instantly regretted, and forced himself to his feet. He stumbled towards the car, limping heavily. He’d gotten the flames put out quickly enough to prevent any real damage, but burns hurt like hell. Not to mention, his pant leg was sticking to the injury, and probably causing more pain than anything else was.

Ten minutes down the road, his vision started to blur. The adrenaline was all washed away, and he hurt. Between his injuries, the lack of sleep, and the unhealthy amounts of alcohol he’d been consuming lately, every inch of him was pounding or throbbing or in some way protesting the abuse he was putting it through.

He thought he might throw up. Maybe he needed to pull the car over… Yeah, yeah, that sounded like a good idea. Pull the car over, possibly be sick, breathe for a minute.

Samandriel blacked out.

 

 


	9. Methods of Keeping You Clean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Castiel is a worried older brother and wishes Samandriel would be less stubborn. He should look in a mirror sometime.

“Cas, are you sure-”

“Dean, I swear to God, I will hit you if you finish that question.”

Dean shut his mouth and looked uncomfortably at the ground. Cas sighed and sat down in the chair on the other end of the little table. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped like that. You’re not the one I’m angry with.”

Cas had stormed out of his and Dri’s motel room a few hours ago, and now his anger had simmered down to a rolling boil, kept just below the surface. He’d ended up in at Dean’s motel, where Dean was now trying to convince him to call Dri.

Which he wasn’t going to do, because Dri was being a brat and could own up and do the apologizing this time around.

Or, you know, wait the few more hours until Cas inevitably calmed down and felt bad and caved. Cas had never been very good at holding anything against his little brother for long.

“It’s fine, Cas,” Dean told him. “I’ve got a little brother too, remember? They mess with your head, I get it.”

“Thanks,” Cas replied with a grateful smile, before crossing his arms across the table’s surface and laying his head on top of them. “He’s just so goddamn stubborn.”

“Didn’t you tell me that was a family trait?”

“Shut up.” When Dean didn’t say anything, Cas looked up to see him sitting across the table, looking smug. “Shut up,” he repeated.

“I didn’t say anything,” Dean protested, smiling.

“You were thinking something, I could tell. Six siblings, remember? I’m practically psychic.”

Dean gave him a good-natured eye roll. “Whatever.”

Sam walked into the room then, Benny right behind him, and tossed them each a sandwich and a can of soda. “Food of the gods, guys.”

“The gods must have low standards,” Cas said as he peeled the wrapping off from around the bread.

“Well, nobody writes the gods paychecks,” Benny told him. “They have a tough time in this economy.”

Dean laughed. “You think he’s kidding,” he said to Cas, “but last Christmas we hunted these two pagan gods that were pretending to be a little old married couple that liked Christmas caroling and making fruitcake.”

Sam snorted. “The woman told Dean off for swearing at her. Made him say ‘fudge’ whenever he got angry.”

Cas laughed, enjoying the mental imagery of Dean viciously screaming the word ‘fudge’ at someone that had no doubt been trying to either eat or sacrifice him. That was what pagan gods generally did, after all.

“You get her back for it?” he asked.

“Killed her with her own Christmas tree.”

“That isn’t exactly the Christmas spirit, Dean.”

He shrugged. “Neither is cannibalism.”

“Does it still count as cannibalism if they’re not human?” Benny asked. “And, if it does, what does that make me?”

“This is no time for getting philosophical, you bloodsucker,” Dean scolded him, but there was no animosity behind the words the way there was when Samandriel called Benny similar names.

Benny flashed Dean a grin and threw a crumpled up napkin at him.

Cas smiled at the banter that reminded him of his own family, save for that it felt slightly less like a ticking time bomb. Still…

He looked down at his phone. “Maybe I should call Samandriel.” He really wasn’t good at holding grudges against Dri. Besides, Samandriel probably hadn’t meant to come across as such an ass. His communication skills were sorely lacking.

“No sense in letting it stew,” Dean said, just a little too casually.

Cas nodded his agreement and took his phone outside, so that he didn’t have to hold a potentially emotional conversation with his brother in front of people who, although he liked them well enough, he didn’t really know all that well.

The phone didn’t even ring before it went to voicemail.

Cas pulled the phone away from his ear to frown at it. Samandriel had been known to petulantly ignore his ringing phone before, but he never, not once, had turned it off. He understood all too well how potentially dangerous that was; being unable to quickly call for help when he needed it. Turning it off wasn’t like him at all.

He got sent to voicemail twice more before being hit with the memory of himself throwing his cell phone out the window of his moving car while doing seventy-five on the highway because he didn’t want to talk to Samandriel - or anyone else, for that matter.

Dri had always been good at learning things from Cas.

“Idiot,” he muttered angrily, and he wasn’t sure if he was directing it at his brother or himself.

“What’s wrong?” Dean asked. Cas turned around to see him pulling a can of soda out of the motel’s vending machine, looking at Cas with concern.

Cas shook his head. “I think Dri threw away his phone.”

Dean frowned. “So you don’t have a way to get in touch with him?”

“No, not if he wrecked it on purpose. He’s mad at me, and he’s going to make damn sure I don’t talk to him until he cools down. If he cools down. And if he can swallow his pride long enough to call me.” He looked down at his phone as though he could somehow force it to connect to whatever phone Samandriel was using now. He’d have one, Cas was sure, he wasn’t an idiot, but there was no way for Cas to find out the number or force him to call. He was going to have to wait it out.

He sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. His brother was going to give him gray hair, if he hadn’t already. Whatever he’d told Dean about thinking that would be attractive, he really wasn’t ready for that sort of change.

Dean had moved to his side and lightly nudged his arm. It was obviously meant to be comforting, just in Dean’s own particular affectionate way.

“You can stick with us,” he said. “Never hurts to have one more person along for a hunt, right?”

Cas glanced between Dean and his phone. “I suppose,” he replied hesitantly. “Until Dri calls me, at least.”

Dean nodded. “Come on, you still have a sandwich to finish.”

Cas smiled, and followed Dean back into the motel. He wasn’t too worried about Samandriel. He could take care of himself, and he’d probably cool down within a few days. They’d work it out soon enough.

* * *

At the end of the first week of hunting with Dean, Sam, and Benny, Cas had decided that even Benny made for surprisingly good company and the vampire was, in fact, a truly excellent cook.

By the end of the second week, it didn’t matter than Benny could cook, because Cas was too worried about Dri to eat.

By the end of the third week, his three hunting partners were forcing him to stay behind at the motel, oftentimes with Benny as a babysitter, because he was getting so little sleep that he was essentially useless.

By the end of a month, Cas was ready to kick down the door of every motel room in the country until he found the one his brother was staying in.

Dri not only hadn’t called him, he hadn’t called anyone they knew. Cas had checked with the Roadhouse, with any and every hunter or researcher that they had ever been friendly with, and not a single one had heard from him. The only thing he hadn’t done was call home. He knew Dri wouldn’t have called or gone home, and even if he had Michael would have called Cas by now; either to yell at him for letting Dri go off on his own like he wasn’t a grown man, or to make Dri apologize.

Dean kept trying to reassure him that Samandriel was probably fine, he was just holding a grudge for longer than Cas had suspected, but every time Cas shut him up by pointing out that he wouldn’t accept that if it was Sam who had gone abruptly off the grid.

“Can’t he take of himself?” Benny asked one afternoon. The two of them were lying around the motel room while Dean and Sam questioned… someone. Cas hadn’t really been paying attention. “I mean,” the vampire elaborated, “I’ve seen him fight. He looked pretty capable to me.”

“He is,” Cas admitted. “But he’s also thick-headed and doesn’t always remember to watch his own back, because he’s so used to having me watch it for him, and hunting alone is dangerous for anyone, and what if something’s happened? I don’t have any way to find out.”

He couldn’t focus on anything for extended periods of time lately; his mind always returning to worries about Dri and conjuring up the absolute worst-case scenarios. He couldn’t imagine it was good for his health.

“He’ll call you eventually, right?”

“Well, yeah. If he hasn’t gotten himself killed.” If this was how Samandriel had felt during the year Cas had spent hunting on his own, cut off from all family ties, then Cas owed him a serious apology. Possibly several of them. This was hell.

Cas’ phone vibrated against the nightstand before starting to ring. He fumbled for it, same as he had every time it had gone off for the last month. The default ring was only for people not in his contacts, but if Dri had gotten a different phone, he’d hardly be recorded in Cas’ phone.

“Hello?”

“Is this Cas Tierney?” a professional female voice asked.

“Yeah, this is Cas,” he replied. He wasn’t sure if he had an alias under that name, but hey, she didn’t have to know that.

“My name’s Madison Lacet, I’m calling from Wellmont Holston Valley Medical Center in Kingsport, Tennessee, we have your younger brother, Alfred, here.”

Cas was already looking for his car keys. “You do? Is he okay? What happened?”

“He was in a car wreck. He should be perfectly fine, but he’ll need some recovery time. How quickly do you think you can get here?”

Cas shut his eyes and wished he’d paid more attention when they were learning the states in school as he tried to remember how far he was from Tennessee. “Um… Tomorrow morning?”

“All right. I’ll let your brother know you’re on your way, okay?”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Cas hung up; trying to pack up his things, put on his jacket and shoes, hold onto his keys, and put his phone in his pocket all at the same time.

“Found Samandriel?” Benny asked.

“Yeah. He’s at some hospital in Tennessee, car wreck. That’s what he told them, anyway, I don’t know if that’s what really happened. I got to go. Tell Dean I’ll call him, okay?”

Benny got off the bed and blocked Cas just as he reached for the door. He acted so normal most of the time that if Cas didn’t see him drinking blood every now and then he would completely forget that he was a vampire, until he moved like that. Cas couldn’t put his finger on exactly what it was, but there was something inhuman in the movements.

“You sure you ought to be driving?” Benny asked, tone so casual that Cas knew he thought Cas needed to lay back down and take a nap before he went anywhere.

“I’ll be fine, Benny. Move.”

“So you can end up in a car accident too? Get found in a ditch on the side of the road because you passed out at the wheel?”

“Benny,” Cas said, voice lowering dangerously, “unless you are offering to drive me to Tennessee, get out of my way.”

Benny reached out and plucked the keys out of Cas’ hand. “Give me a minute to grab snacks for the road, huh?”

Cas stood in the motel doorway, temporarily stumped, until Benny returned with a small cooler of blood in one hand, still holding Cas’ keys in the other. He led Cas out of the motel, into the parking lot, and to Cas’ car.

“Come on, hot wings, you were the one in such a rush a minute ago.”

Cas wasn’t sure why Benny had started calling him hot wings, but it had started after Cas had mentioned that the origins of his name were biblical, so he assumed it was an angel joke. It wasn’t a half bad nickname, really. Cas got in the car, Benny climbed into the driver’s seat, adjusted the seat, and started the car.

“You want to let Dean know where we’re going?”

Cas was still surprised at what Benny was doing, but he nodded and reached for his phone. “I’ll give him a call.” He made a few false starts to his next sentence before finally just saying, “Thanks.”

* * *

They arrived at the hospital at seven the next morning, Cas grumbling about how they would have gotten there faster if Benny had let him drive. Benny had laughed at him and pointed out that Cas had slept part of the way, so if he’d driven they’d probably have gone off the road.

Cas hadn’t dignified that with a response and told Benny to stay in the car. “You can get a motel room or something, if you want,” he said. “I don’t know how long they’re going to want to keep Dri here.”

Benny nodded. “Yeah, no problem. Just call me, huh?”

“I will.”

Cas had called Dean on the way, and he and Sam were going to come meet them once they finished up their hunt. Hopefully Cas would know what he was going to do about the Dri versus Dean situation by then.

He made his way into the hospital and up to the front desk. “Hi, I’m looking for, um…” He struggled to remember which name Dri was using for a moment. “Alfred Tierney? I’m his brother.”

The woman nodded, looked something up, and gestured for him to follow her. “He’s allowed visitors. Right this way, please.”

She left him at Samandriel’s room, which Cas took to be good news. That meant Dri was capable of explaining what had happened himself, which meant he couldn’t be too badly hurt.

Sure enough, Dri was sitting up in the bed, looking a little banged up, but altogether in fairly decent shape. He looked up and bit his lip when he saw Cas.

“Hey.”

“Are you alright?” Cas asked, moving to his side.

Dri stared down at his hands. “Yeah. They patched me up, I’ll be fine.”

Cas sighed with relief. He reached out to brush Dri’s hair away from a section of ugly bruising. “What happened?”

Dri still didn’t look up at him. “Fight with a ghost. I was on my way back to my motel room when I blacked out and crashed. Car even caught fire a little. Which is lucky, I guess. Kept them from getting suspicious about my injuries.”

“That’s good,” Cas agreed. He pulled a chair to the edge of the bed and sat down. “Dri? What’s wrong?”

Dri finally stopped staring at his lap and met Cas’ eyes. He bit his lip and picked at his nails. “I’m sorry,” he finally said quietly.

Cas resisted the initial urge to tease. “Me too. I shouldn’t have gone off on you like that.”

“I shouldn’t have been such a brat about Dean.” Dri sniffed and rubbed at his eyes.

Cas reached out and gripped his shoulder. “We’re both stubborn idiots, I suppose.”

Dri smiled weakly. “Yeah, I guess so. But I shouldn’t have-” He took a shuddering breath. “I know I’m really clingy. And that I shouldn’t be. And that I’m really obnoxious, and I’m not a whole lot of help-”

Cas cut him off. “Stop that. You’re not - Okay, maybe sometimes you’re a little clingy, but Dri, come on, have you met me?”

Dri tried for a smile again and picked at a thread of his blankets.

“And you’re my brother. So I shouldn’t be yelling at you because we’re not seeing eye-to-eye. We’ve got Michael and Lucifer for that, right? We don’t need it from each other.”

Dri nodded and settled back to sit up against his pillows. “So, now what?”

“What do you mean?”

He waved one hand in a gesture that was probably meant to be explanatory. “You. Me. Your boyfriend. Now what?”

“I’m not sure yet. I thought I should talk to you before I told Dean anything.”

“Is he here?”

Cas shook his head. “No, he and Sam are finishing up the job we were working before I got the call from the hospital and then they’re going to drive down. Benny’s here though. He thought I would fall asleep at the wheel and get myself hospitalized too if I came alone.”

“Benny?” Dri’s expression wasn’t angry, but it did hold something akin to disappointment and disgust.

“He’s surprisingly good company, actually. Except for the blood drinking, you’d never know he was a vampire.”

“Yeah, and except for the ripping you apart, you’d never spot a werewolf. Really, Cas?”

“You’re not going to start an argument already, are you?”

Dri threw up his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright, fine. Don’t expect me to get all buddy-buddy with it though, okay?”

“If you did, I’d check you for signs of possession,” Cas promised him solemnly.

“I should hope so.”

They grinned at each other, and Dri’s expression looked more genuine this time, which took a weight off Cas’ chest.

“What have you been up to for the last month anyway?” Cas asked. ‘ _I was worried sick_ ,’ lingered on the tip of his tongue, but he held it back. All that would do would be to make Samandriel feel guilty for taking off.

He shrugged. “Hunting.”

“I called around. Nobody had heard from you.”

He shrugged again. “I didn’t talk to anybody. I had a really cheap cell just for if I needed someone to call me during hunts, but that was it.”

“And your phone?”

“I, uh, threw it out the car window.”

“You are too much like me for your own good.”

“Funny, Michael’s told me the same thing before.”

“Well, he was in charge of raising both of us. I suppose he’d know.”

Dri chuckled, but grew serious again almost immediately. “We do need to decide what we’re doing though. I mean, I still don’t like Dean, and I really don’t like the vampire, but I don’t want to make you- I don’t want to put you in a- I don’t want us to get in another fight.”

Cas nodded. “I don’t want that either. And I do really like Dean, Dri. He and I… I don’t really know how to explain it, but he means a lot to me. And I don’t want to have to pick between the two of you.”

Dri had gone back to fiddling with the edge of the blanket. “So what do you want to do?”

“Well, I would like to have the two of you get along well enough for me to be able to see Dean and continue hunting with you and not have either of you be upset about it. Maybe do something similar to what we were doing, where we hunt close to each other and Dean and I meet up for dinner and such sometimes. Just without-”

“No more lies.”

Cas nodded. “No more lies.” He hesitated for a moment, but forced himself to keep speaking. “I’m sorry about that, Dri. I know that hurt. I - I guess I was just trying to push off the conflict as long as I could. Which just made it worse.”

“No kidding.” There was a long pause between them.

“I think that could work,” Dri said at last. “And maybe, _maybe_ , we could work with them on hunts sometimes. You know, for tough jobs and stuff.”

“As long as you don’t have to work with Benny?”

“As long as I don’t have to work with the vampire,” Dri affirmed. “I’ll work with Sam though. He’s okay.”

Cas nodded. “He’s good company. I think you two would get along pretty well.”

“Yeah, well, if all else fails we can just get some beers and talk about how stupid our two big brothers are.”

“He’ll be willing to, I promise.”

“I have one condition for this though,” Dri said.

Cas was suddenly wary. “Conditions? Like what?”

“You will not - I mean it, Cas, you won’t - put me in a situation where I have to watch you making out with Dean Winchester. Or groping at each other, or making suggestive faces, or anything. Hell, I don’t want to see you flirting.”

“I thought you were willing to try to get along with him?”

“Oh, this has nothing to do with him, Castiel. This is entirely because there are things about you that I don’t want to know or think about. If you’re getting some action that’s wonderful for you, but for the sake of all things right with this world, please don’t subject me to it.”

Cas laughed. “Okay, Dri, I think I can manage that. Although I’m warning you now that I will use Dean and I’s relationship as retribution if I feel the need to get back at you for something.”

Dri groaned and rolled his eyes. “God, I hate having siblings. Can I just be an only child now? You’re all way more trouble than your worth.”

“I’m going to tell Anna you don’t want to be related to her anymore.”

“Cas! That is taking this completely out of context and you know it.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll just save it for blackmail, how’s that?”

“You’re such a jerk.”

Cas smiled and ruffled Dri’s hair, earning him a scowl. “I’m your big brother, Samandriel. It’s my job to be a jerk. It’s what I was born for.”

* * *

 

Dri, as it turned out, had received a concussion, a few bruised ribs, and a few minor burns, but his main problem had actually been a lack of proper rest and nutrition; so, with stern orders to start taking care of himself better, the doctors allowed Cas to check him out later that day.

Of course, Benny had to come pick them up from the hospital, and Cas was moderately concerned about how that was going to go. He didn’t doubt that Dri was willing to play nice with the Winchesters, but he’d made it clear that Benny wasn’t going to be getting anything nicer than Dri pretending he was invisible. Which is a difficult way to treat someone driving the car you’re riding in.

Dri didn’t say anything as he got into the backseat of the car. Benny nodded at him politely.

Cas scowled at Benny as he got in on the passenger’s side. “You could let me drive. It is my car, after all.”

“Still don’t trust you behind the wheel. Not like you slept in the hospital.” He raised his voice to address Samandriel, apparently uncaring about Dri’s obvious animosity towards him. “Your brother’s got a death wish, kid.”

“Don’t call me kid.”

“I’ve told you already, everyone’s a kid next to me.”

Dri sneered at him, caught Cas’ reproving stare in the rearview mirror, and fell silent before he could make a comeback. Cas felt like they were little kids again and he was trying to get his baby brother to quit arguing with Michael before they got grounded.

Benny rolled his eyes and shook his head, but only seemed mildly annoyed. Cas supposed that if Dean was going to be friends with a vampire, at least it was a pretty laid-back vampire. Not that a high-strung one would have been terrifically likely to go down the road of redemption.

They got to the motel without any fights breaking out, although the atmosphere between Dri and Benny grew tense to the point that Cas almost wanted one of them to start throwing punches just to break it. It was incredible how obvious they could make their dislike for each other without even looking in the other’s direction.

Benny had had the forethought to get two motel rooms, at least, and he ducked into his to get out of the sun as soon as he got out of the car. Dri trailed after Cas into theirs, limping slightly.

Cas pointed to one of the beds. “Sit. I’m going to call Dean and tell him where to find us; you’re going to lie down and get some rest.”

“I’ve been getting nothing but rest, Cas,” Dri protested. “The hospital barely let me go to the bathroom without someone helping me.”

“You should have considered that before you let a ghost kick the crap out of you. Sit. Rest. I’ll be right back, and if you’ve moved, I’m tying you down.”

Dri responded by childishly sticking his tongue out, but he sat obediently down on the bed. Cas nodded with satisfaction and left the room, pulling out his cell.

Dean answered on the first ring. “Hey, Cas, I was just about to call you. Sam and I finished up our hunt, we’ll be heading your way pretty soon. How’s your brother?”

Cas leaned against the wall and let out the relieved sigh that had been waiting for awhile now. “He’ll be alright. There were no serious injuries.”

“That’s good. Did you guys talk?”

“We did. He’ll probably never be your best friend or anything, and he’s determined to continue hating Benny, but he’s willing to work together on hunts occasionally and that sort of thing.”

“That’s good to hear, Cas. I… I really would have hated to come between you and your brother.”

“You won’t. I’ll see you two soon, Dean.”

“Yeah, see you.”

They hung up, and Cas smiled to himself. Dean didn’t talk much over the phone or when others were around, but Cas was already mastering the art of reading beyond what he said. Cas had been worried and distracted for most of the last month, but he and Dean had shared a motel room more often than not during that time. Dean had said something about not wanting Cas to have to share a room with a vampire he didn’t know very well yet, but Cas hadn’t believed it. Neither had Sam or Benny. The latter had just fondly rolled his eyes, and the former had made a comment about Dean not caring how _he_ felt about Benny back when they’d first started hunting with him.

Dean talked more in the dark. Lying next to each other, so close that they could breathe their words and have them heard, Dean had spoken more, as though whatever he was afraid of couldn’t touch him through the cover of darkness. He’d been able to tell when Cas was worried about Dri, and had mastered the ability to say whatever needed to be said to make Cas feel just a little better. Never complete reassurance, but more than Cas had been expecting the man to be capable of.

Again and again, Dean had pressed that Cas shouldn’t feel like Dean was trying to drive a wedge between him and Samandriel.

“He’s your brother,” Dean had repeated over and over. “There’s nothing more important than family.”

He’d reassured Cas that he would understand if he left because of his brother. Still, anytime he had said that he would tense a little, and if he had an arm around Cas’ waist, it would inevitably tighten, as though Dean would pull him back if he tried to leave, regardless of what he said.

Cas supposed he could sympathize. If Sam had been the one with the problem, Cas knew he would be conflicted about what to feel and what to say to Dean.

Still, it would hopefully be irrelevant. Dri had said he was willing to play nice, and with any luck he’d actually grow to like the Winchesters once he’d given them a chance. Benny was probably a lost cause, but surely it wouldn’t be difficult to keep them apart most of the time. As long as Dri didn’t actively try to go after him, it should be fine. And he had promised he’d try.

Cas reentered the room, pulling a cigarette out of his pocket and searching for his lighter.

“Mine’s in my bag,” Dri offered, pointing to where he’d tossed the duffel.

“Thanks.”

“Dean smoke?”

Cas glanced at his brother who was idly flipping through channels on the television, apparently uncaring of what answer Cas might give.

“No. Why do you ask?”

“Wondering how long it’s going to take before he starts trying to convince you to quit and save your lungs.”

Cas blew out a puff of smoke. “You think he will?”

“Cas, I know I’m not great with people, but if two people are dating and only one of them smokes, sooner or later the person who doesn’t is going to try to get them to quit.”

“I didn’t try to make Meg quit.”

“That’s the one exception - when the person who smokes makes the other person start. I don’t think Dean’s going to start though. He doesn’t strike me as the sort.”

Cas wasn’t sure where Dri had gotten that conclusion, but he didn’t disagree. Dean hated the smell. He’d made it clear very quickly that Cas would not make his car smell like cigarette smoke.

“How would you know that’s how it works? Adam smokes worse than you do.”

“I watch people. I notice things. I give it… Maybe three months before he starts to bring it up regularly.”

Cas rolled his eyes. “Are you trying to make a bet with me, Dri?”

“Maybe. Never turn down easy money, right?”

“You cocky bastard.”

“Not a bad thing unless I’m wrong.”

“Fine then. What are you thinking, twenty?”

Dri grinned in triumph. “Works for me. And no cheating.”

“Wouldn’t you know if I cheated?” Cas teased. “I thought I was the world’s worst liar.”

“Well, just don’t make the attempt, huh? Gotta keep things fair. You wouldn’t want to set a bad example for your impressionable little brother, would you?”

Cas tried to smother him with a pillow.

 


	10. Rip Up Some Heads

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Samandriel hates witches, and he decides they’re probably even worse than vampires. He still hates vampires though. Because, you know, they’re vampires.

After a few weeks, Dri had to begrudgingly admit - to himself, at least - that the Winchesters weren’t so bad. Sam actually made for pretty good company. And Dean wasn’t awful, he supposed, although he’d told Cas that he needed to speak with his boyfriend about calling Samandriel ‘kid’ all the time, because Dri could only control himself for so long.

Dri didn’t particularly want to tell Cas that he didn't mind them, however. It wasn’t quite like admitting he had been wrong, but it was close enough. It was admitting that he’d been an asshole, and he’d already apologized for that. If he brought it up again the entire thing would just dissolve into brotherly teasing.

But, yeah, the Winchesters weren’t that bad.

Benny, on the other hand, kept looking at him like he’d make a good snack, and Dri was not having it.

“For the hundredth time, I’m not going to eat you,” Benny said in a low voice that was nearly a growl. “Get over yourself, pigeon.”

Dri gritted his teeth together at the nickname that Benny steadfastly refused to let drop. “Trying to tell me you’re a fussy eater, bloodsucker? Wonder why I’m having a hard time believing that.”

Cas and Dean had gone out for drinks and Sam had gone to bed with a headache gained from the aftereffects of a witch’s spell. Sam and Dri were sharing a room so that no one had to be concerned with walking in on Dean and Cas shoving their tongues down one another’s throats, so when Dri had wanted a cigarette, he’d stepped outside. Unfortunately, it had precisely timed up with Benny being outside for a walk and things had escalated to an argument with impressive speed.

“Don’t have to be fussy to only be interested in something that’s actually got meat on its bones. You’re all skin, kid, it’d be like drinking a plastic bag.”

“Have a lot of experience with eating people smaller than you, vampire?” Dri was fairly certain that he had not yet spoken Benny’s name to his face. He hoped Benny had noticed. And was offended.

Benny bared his teeth, though they were still human. He’d yet to flash his fangs at Dri, probably because he knew that the hunter would take it as a good reason to finally have it out with him with a weapon in hand. A fight Dri was confident he could win. “Count your blessings that I haven’t. Might decide you aren’t worth the effort of not eating after all.”

Dri sneered at him. “Yeah, right. If you think you stand a snowball’s chance in hell against me, you’ll have something else coming, bloodsucker.”

“Just because you can kill a couple of mindless monsters that go running after you without a thought to what they’re doing doesn’t mean that you’d be able to handle me.”

“Oh yeah? You’re just that smart, are you?”

“Smart enough. You aren’t exactly a rocket scientist, you know.”

“What would you know? They got good schools for vampires? Free education for anyone who brings in more than twenty snacks per school year?”

Benny snarled at him, and there was a muscle jumping in his jaw like it was taking every ounce of self-control he had to not rip Samandriel’s throat out right then and there. It felt like Dri was playing with fire. It pulsed through him, woke him up, made him want to rile Benny up all the more. Michael would have called it a death wish. Dri wasn’t sure what he called it, but the whirlwind of danger was exhilarating enough that he didn’t care.

Before either of them could say or do anything else, somebody screamed.

Samandriel whirled on the spot, hand moving instinctively to his hip, all but forgetting about the vampire’s existence. The scream came again, and he took off in its direction, drawing one of his knives as he went. He wasn’t fully armed, but he had enough that he would almost certainly be able to do _something_ about whatever was going on, supernatural or otherwise. Footsteps behind him said that Benny was right on his heels.

Well, as long as he stayed out of Dri’s way, Dri supposed he could put up with it. The vampire was a good fighter, if nothing else. And he did have the advantage of not being hurt by much aside from a decapitation.

The screams echoed around them every few seconds, until they rounded a corner and it seemed to go out right over their heads. They turned down a side-street, and Dri skidded to a halt as the road dead-ended. There was nobody there.

Despite logically knowing that Benny didn’t know any more about what was going on than he did, Dri turned to glare suspiciously at the vampire. “It was coming from here, wasn’t it?”

Benny nodded, looking around, eyes narrowed in confusion and suspicion. “Yeah. And now it’s stopped.”

He was right, Dri realized. The screams had been coming one after the other so far, only brief pauses in between as if the screamer had been gasping for breath between their cries. Now, the streets were quiet.

“Nobody else is here either,” Benny said, frowning. “We can’t have been the only ones who heard that.”

Dri began edging his way back to the main street, fingers tightening around the knife he was holding. He was tense, his muscles screaming to give him something to fight. “I’m getting out of here.”

Benny nodded and moved to follow him, still watching the street like something might leap out of one of the shadows or emerge from behind a lamppost. Dri’s feet hit the corner of the sidewalk that marked the intersection they’d turned down and a sharp pain flashed through his skull. He turned to accuse Benny of something - he wasn’t sure of what yet, but something - but he caught the briefest glimpse of the vampire starting to sway on his feet before he was falling and his vision blacked out.

* * *

 

When Dri sat up, shaking his head in an attempt to clear it, it was dark. Not the usual kind of dark either, like the kind that come from being outside after sunset in a place without any streetlights. It wasn’t an artificial darkness either, like what came from all the lights in a room being turned off. It was more like someone had found a way to cover the entire sky with a thick, black blanket.

Carefully, straining his eyes in an attempt to make out his surroundings, Dri got to his feet. He held his breath, listening for any clues as to where he was or how he’d gotten there. He was outside, he was sure of that much. There was a slight breeze ruffling through his hair and he could smell trees. The ground underneath him was uneven, and when he moved his feet there was a light crunch of grass and pine needles.

“Samandriel? That you?”

It was Benny’s voice, hushed and immediately to his left. Dri whipped his head in his direction, straining to make out the vampire. There was one section of the darkness that was slightly blacker than the rest and looked like it could possibly be Benny’s size, so that was where Dri directed his gaze.

“Yeah, it’s me. Where the hell are we?” He kept his voice low too. He didn’t know where they were, how they got there, or whether he should be preparing to fight Benny off, but the knife he had been holding was gone, and all he had now was a little one strapped to his ankle that wouldn’t do him much good against a vampire unless it sat there and let him hack away at its neck bit by bit, so he figured it would be wise to play nice for as long as possible.

“I don’t know,” Benny said, and there was the sound of movement that Dri thought was Benny stepping closer to him. He wanted to step away, but he wasn’t sure where Benny was or what he might step on if he moved in any other direction. “Looks like part of a forest, but… it’s not right.”

“You can see?” Dri asked. He’d have guessed forest as well, but that was from the smell and the sounds, definitely not from the looks of things. All he could see was various shades of black. His eyes were starting to hurt from trying to make out shapes in it.

“Not well,” Benny replied, “but it’s enough. Vampire, remember? We’re made for the dark.”

Dri swallowed, not at all reassured by the reminder that he was virtually defenseless and in very close proximity to something that probably wanted to have him for a midnight snack.

“Calm down,” Benny ordered. “I can hear your heart pounding, it’s distracting.”

“That’s creepy,” Dri informed him, even as he tried to stabilize his breathing.

“Yeah, well, who asked you?” Benny sounded distracted, and his heart was clearly not in the banter. Dri wished he could see what he was doing; whether the vampire was trying to discover what had happened or if he was thinking about the best way to take Dri down and make it look like an accident so that Cas didn’t kill him.

“Did you see anything helpful before we lost consciousness?” Benny asked.

Dri shook his head before remembering that he didn’t know if Benny could see him well enough to notice. “No. I got a headache for a second though.”

“Yeah, me too.” The tone of his voice made Dri think that he had a theory about what was going on.

“What is it?”

“We sure we took care of all the witches?”

“You think that’s what this is?”

“Feels like a spell to me.”

That would explain the blacked-out sky, Dri supposed. Powerful witches could pull tricks like that over small areas. Would explain the screams that only the two of them had responded to as well. Dri unstrapped his knife from his ankle and gripped it tightly.

“That a knife?” Benny asked.

“Yeah. Only one I’ve got on me, unfortunately.”

“Weren’t you caring one before?”

“Yeah. I’m not now though. Which makes sense; if this is witches I doubt they were nice enough to deliver my weapons along with me as they sent me God knows where.”

“Hey, they sent me too you know.”

“Yeah, but I think we’ve established that I don’t really care what happens to you.”

“Watch it, pigeon,” Benny said, and his voice was dangerous now. “You can’t see a damn thing through this. I leave you here, you’re helpless.”

He was right, damn him. Dri hated to think that he was dependent on anyone, even Cas, but he needed the vampire right now, for his superior night vision if nothing else.

“Fine,” Dri said, pointedly not apologizing. “Any bright ideas?”

Benny was quiet for a long minute, while Samandriel stood helplessly in the darkness, willing his eyes to adjust despite they fact that they could never hope to. The sound of his own breathing was putting him on edge. The reminder that he was defenseless pressed in around him with every shadow that he couldn’t see through and he started wishing Benny would say something else just so that he could reassure himself that he wasn’t standing there alone.

Bad company was sometimes better than no company at all.

“I guess we should start moving,” Benny said at last, not sounding at all certain of himself. “If this is witches, the darkness spell probably doesn’t stretch very far. It’d be exhausting to maintain.”

“And if something attacks us?”

“You lash out in its general direction and hope that I kill it before it kills you.”

Dri didn’t feel any better, not confident in either Benny’s abilities or in his willingness to help Dri if it might cost him, but he stayed quiet. He had to stay at least neutral towards Benny for now if he wanted to get out of here.

Which brought up an uncomfortable subject. “I can’t see well enough to follow you.”

A presence appeared at his side and he tensed to resist the urge to pull away from it. It wasn't even warm, like a human would have been, but Benny was undoubtedly there. 

“Guess I’ll have to guide you then.”

Benny’s hand curled around his bicep and Dri’s stomach turned with the desire to wrench himself free from the vampire’s grip. He refrained, however. It wasn’t his first choice, and he doubted it was Benny’s, but he didn’t have many options available to him.

“Okay,” he said quietly, and followed obediently when Benny started to move.

They went slowly, listening for anything that might turn out to be a threat. Benny’s guidance had Dri fairly confident that he probably wouldn’t collide with a tree, but he was less certain about tripping over roots or rocky terrain and he had to feel his way along without lifting his feet up very high. Benny didn’t push him to go faster though. In fact, neither of them said a word once they started walking. If Benny needed him to stop and listen, he halted and squeezed Dri’s arm. If he needed them to turn, he gave a slight tug. Dri remained uncertain, but he followed the silent commands without any protest.

There was no way for Dri to tell how long had passed before Benny stopped, this time letting go of Dri’s arm. Dri broke the silence, but he kept his voice low. “What did you do that for?”

“Keep quiet,” Benny ordered, a rumbling growl echoing around the words.

Dri readied his knife and braced himself for an attack, whether it came from something out in the woods or from his companion.

There was the soft crunch of Benny’s feet moving over the ground and he stopped in front of Dri, who slid back as quietly as he could, away from the bulk that had been so close that he had been able to tell that Benny smelled like a combination of seawater and pine trees. Not that he had any interest whatsoever in what Benny smelled like. He’d only noticed because his senses were heightened to make up for the inability to see, that was all.

“Where are you going?” Benny hissed.

“Putting some distance between us,” Dri hissed back. “If you’re planning something I’m not going to make things easy for you.”

The noise that came from Benny’s direction was a frustrated-sounding growl that was almost amusing. “You listen here, you ungrateful-”

Whatever he had been planning to call Samandriel was never put into words, because at that moment something massive made a yowling noise that Dri was pretty sure didn’t come from anything usually found in nature, and it landed right in between them.

Dri stumbled back, swinging wildly towards whatever it was. He could only hope that he would make some sort of impact on it, as he had no way of telling what it was, if it was injured, or really even how far away it was. He could make out a large patch of black that seemed darker than the rest and that occasionally seemed to move, but he couldn’t tell anything more. Grunts and heavy breathing intermixed with the thing’s incessant yowling told him that Benny was fighting it as well.

The blade in his hand made contact with something, ripped through it, and then something like boiling wax splashed onto him where the thing’s blood should have landed. Dri dropped his knife in pain and shock, stumbling backwards with a cry, clutching the hand that had taken the brunt of the hot liquid to his chest.

The thing yowled a few more times, more weakly now, and then there was a thud as it hit the ground. The dark fell silent again, save for Dri and Benny’s heavy breathing, and Dri’s occasional whimpering as he moved his hand wrong.

“You alright?” Benny asked at last. “What happened?”

Dri realized he was shaking and did his best to take a steadying breath. “I stabbed it. Whatever it’s got for blood is boiling. Got some on my hand.”

He heard Benny moving and tensed up again, but the vampire didn’t seem to have any interest in getting closer to him right now.

“It barely even looks hurt,” Benny said, apparently observing the thing lying - hopefully - dead nearby. “I’m definitely guessing witches now.”

“You know what that thing was?”

“No. But it had something that wasn’t blood pumping through its veins, I can tell you that much. And the easy take-down isn’t unusual for fighting with witch monsters. They can either take anything you throw at them or they keel over because they got pricked with a toothpick. Not a whole lot of middle ground there.”

“You seem to know a lot about witches,” Dri said, tone bordering on accusatory.

Benny scoffed. “Been around a long time, kid. I’ve had lots of time to learn.” He moved again, and this time he stopped just a few inches away. “Let me see your hand.”

“No.”

Benny made a frustrated noise in the back of his throat. “Christ, kid, what do you think I’m going to do?”

“You’re a vampire. I’m a human. It doesn’t exactly take a lot of imagination.”

Fingers clenched around Dri’s wrist and pulled his arm away from the safety of the rest of him.

“Hey!” Dri wished the noise had sounded less like a yelp of pain.

“Calm down, I’m just making sure you’re not going to end up losing it or something. I’m not going to hurt you.”

Dri tried to pull his arm away without much success. “You’ll have to forgive me if I don’t take your word for it.”

Benny’s grip tightened and Dri gave an involuntary whimper at the pain.

“You listen to me, Samandriel Novak,” Benny commanded, and Dri went rigid at the tone. “I have no interest in eating you. Killing you, maybe, but that’s because you’re obnoxious, not because I’m a vampire. I don’t have to put up with you and your attitude. I could leave you here and you could stumble around in the dark until doomsday and I doubt I’d lose one second of sleep over it. Or, you could quit treating me like something you’re hunting and we could work together to get out of this alive. What’s it going to be?”

Dri didn’t respond immediately, standing there with Benny’s fingers curled around his wrist and his heart pounding. He knew it was loud enough for Benny to hear every beat. He swallowed. “Do you know where we’re going?” He did his best to keep it from sounding like a challenge.

Benny’s grip on Dri’s wrist loosened, but he didn’t let go. Dri didn’t pull away. “I think you’ll be alright,” Benny said after a moment. “You aren’t bleeding and I don’t think the burns are that bad. Nothing that can’t be fixed up when we get back to Dean, Sam, and your brother.” He released Samandriel, who immediately pulled his hand back to his chest.

“Do you think they know we’re missing yet?”

“With witches, who knows. I’m hoping so, it’d be helpful if they could at least turn the lights back on for us. But if not, we should be able to find the edge of the area they have a spell over on our own.”

“Provided we’re not wandering around in circles.”

“What, still don’t trust me?” Benny didn’t sound quite annoyed, but he did seem a bit irritated.

“Benny, we’re God knows where with no source of light and weird witch-monster things attacking us. I don’t think anyone has that good a sense of direction.”

Benny, much to Dri’s surprise, chuckled. “Well, what do you know. You know my name after all.”

Dri rolled his eyes. “Can we just get moving? Before something else tries to eat us?”

Benny said nothing, just took hold of Dri’s left arm and started walking again.

* * *

 

Estimating off of his exhaustion and how much his feet hurt, Dri thought it was most likely two or three hours later when the sun switched back on.

They’d been plodding along, neither of them saying anything but both of them just about fed up with the entire situation, and then the area had been flooded with light, which, while being pretty much what Samandriel had been hoping for, had been abrupt and unpleasant. They’d both stumbled back into the shade of a tree, squinting and rubbing their eyes.

“Christ, what the hell was that?” Dri said once he’d started to recover.

“Hopefully, that was Dean, Sam, and Cas finding the witch and breaking the spell,” Benny answered, shielding his eyes and looking around.

“Yeah, well, a warning would have been nice.”

“You can file a complaint when we find them.”

“At least now we can see where we’re going,” Dri pointed out, glad to not have to be guided around like a puppy on a leash any longer. He looked down at his injured hand, which had gone from a blinding pain to a dull throbbing as they’d wandered around.

Dri prided himself on not being squeamish, but he nearly threw up at the sight. It was the type of injury that he knew, objectively, looked much worse than it actually was, but it was still nasty. Some of the skin had peeled away and blistered and his hand had swelled. There was an odd reddish-brown sheen across the skin that Dri guessed was the dried version of whatever the thing that had attacked them had possessed instead of blood.

“Yuck.”

Benny looked over and winced. “That looks a lot worse in daylight than it did in the dark.”

“Yeah, I can imagine. At least, I’d hope that you would have told me if it looked this bad.”

“Well, it’s not like either of us could have done anything,” Benny pointed out.

“Still…” Dri looked around him. They were in some sort of forest, as he’d suspected, but nothing looked familiar. “I don’t suppose you have any idea where we are?”

Benny shook his head. “Doesn’t look familiar. Hopefully we’re not too far from civilization though. I don’t want to be out here for long.”

“Right. Sun. Hey, at least you don’t dissolve or catch fire, right?”

“Yeah, no kidding. Or sparkle.” He spat out the last word like it was coated in something rotten.

Dri snorted. “I thought you didn’t like being compared to Twilight.”

Benny nudged his shoulder. “I can make fun of myself, jackass.”

“Oh, I see how it is.”

Benny rolled his eyes and Samandriel grinned. His heart lurched in his chest as he realized he was actually feeling pretty damn friendly towards the vampire all of a sudden. He swallowed, trying to tell himself that it was fine, perfectly normal. It was just because he’d been so on edge, that was all. A sudden decrease in fear could have all sort of weird emotions brought to the surface. It wasn’t like he and Benny were friends or anything.

“You alright?” Benny asked, giving him a strange look.

Samandriel nodded. “Yeah, fine. Let’s get out of here, huh?”

Benny turned slowly in place. “Sounds great. You have a direction in mind?”

“Weren’t you bragging about your sense of direction a few hours ago?”

“I was not.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure you were.”

“Do you have anything helpful to say, kid?”

“Beyond telling you to quit calling me kid again?”

“That’s not helpful. And maybe I’d use your name if it wasn’t such a goddamn mouthful.”

“I’ve got a nickname, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

Benny a noncommittal sort of noise and shrugged. “Come on, pigeon. Daylight’s _your_ forte, so pick a direction and let’s get going.”

Samandriel huffed at the use of the word pigeon, which he really didn’t consider to be any better than kid, but he didn’t protest. Fighting about nicknames with Benny looked like it might be an uphill battle and his hand was throbbing too bad for him to really be invested in it right now. He spun on the spot, picked a direction that he was fairly certain wasn’t the direction they’d just come from, and began walking. Benny fell into step beside him.

“I don’t suppose you’ve got any sort of weapon, do you?” Dri asked.

“Just my teeth,” Benny replied. “Why?”

“Lost my knife after I hurt my hand and I don’t like feeling defenseless.”

Benny gave him an appraising look. “I think you could hold your own without a weapon if you needed to.”

“Even with this?” Dri held up his burnt hand. An ice pack or a cold, wet towel sounded like heaven.

“Like I said, if you needed to.”

“You have an awful lot of confidence in my abilities.”

“I saw you fighting while we were taking out that nest in Vermont. Looked to me like nothing would stop you once you got going. You fight like it’s in your blood.”

Dri shrugged. “It just comes naturally to me, I guess. Always has. Just about the only thing that does.”

“I can get that.”

“I guess it probably comes easy to you too, doesn’t it? Being a vampire and all.”

“You know, you do this thing where you mention me being a vampire like you think I’m going to forget.”

To his horror, Dri felt his face heating up with a blush. He ducked his head in an attempt to hide it, pushing it out of his mind so he could avoid thinking about it later. “Sorry.”

“What was that?”

“Huh?”

“Was that an apology? That sounded like an apology.”

Dri scoffed, injecting as much confidence into it as he could manage. “Yeah, right. Like I’d apologize to a vampire.”

Benny swatted lightly at his arm. “You’re a prick, you know that?”

“I’ve been informed. Benefit of having so many siblings, everyone always makes sure you’re aware of that sort of thing.”

“I’m sure they’re pricks too.”

“Oh, they are.”

Benny laughed, a deep rumbling noise that Dri could feel in his own chest.

Fuck. It was going to be like Adam all over again, wasn’t it? But with a vampire.

“You okay? You’re heart rate keeps going all over the place.”

Dri swallowed and focused on keeping his voice from cracking. “Fine.”

He wasn’t sure how convincing he’d been, but Benny didn’t push, so Dri let silence fall between them.

They kept to the shade as much as they could, but after what felt like an hour or so, Benny was visibly uncomfortable. He kept shifting as he walked, attempting to block out the discomfort. He didn’t say anything about it though. Dri assumed that was because he knew there really wasn’t anything he could do about it, no more than Dri could do something about his injured hand which was really starting to protest not getting any medical attention.

“We can stop for a bit, if you want,” Dri said casually, doing his best to act as though he didn’t much care one way or another.

Benny winced. “Won’t really help. Shade from trees doesn’t really do me a whole lot of good, too much sunlight gets in. It’s not like I’m in danger of dying or anything, anyway. I can manage a sunburn.”

Dri nodded.

Benny continued to grow miserable as they walked, but neither of them said anything more. They were tired and in pain and sore. Hungry too, and Dri spared a moment to marvel at the fact that he had no concern that Benny was going to make him a snack. He couldn’t pinpoint when the change had occurred, but somewhere in the dark the vampire had become a little more human.

Yeah, this was definitely going to be a repeat of how he’d started with Adam. Which, going by how badly that had blown up, wasn’t a good thing by any means. But that would be something to worry about later.

Benny paused, holding up a hand to tell Samandriel to wait. “I think I hear cars.”

Dri tilted his head to listen better, but heard nothing. “Are you sure?”

“No. But it’s a direction, right? That way.” He pointed off a little to the left of the direction they’d been going and they changed course.

It wasn’t long before Dri could hear it too; the noise of cars speeding down a highway. He grinned. “Think we’re charming enough to get picked up by some truckers?”

“I don’t know about me, but I think you look enough like jail-bait to pull it off.”

Dri stuck his tongue out, not caring how childish it looked. Benny laughed, and their pace picked up a little.

Eager to see signs of civilization again, neither of them heard the attack coming until a throwing knife lodged itself in Benny’s ribs and he stumbled backwards with a grunt of pain and surprise.

“Benny!” Dri was torn between running to help and charging after the weapon’s source.

It became a moot point almost immediately, when a woman became visible, holding a throwing knife in each hand. Dri recognized her as the cousin of the witch they’d disposed of the day before. In hindsight, they really should have looked into the woman’s family a little more carefully.

“You two aren’t going anywhere,” she informed them, and Dri felt like he wasn’t in a position to argue. “You killed my cousin, your friends killed my sister, but you two aren’t getting out of this.”

Benny hauled himself to his feet with a mouthful of fangs. Dri clenched his good hand into a fist and wished for a weapon.

The woman - Laurie, Dri thought her name had been? - waved one hand and Benny went flying backwards. There was a sickening crunching sound as he collided with a tree, and he crumpled to the ground.

Samandriel swallowed, redirecting his attention to the witch.

“Something about vampires just makes them easier to cast spells on,” she said. She threw one of her knives. Dri dodged to avoid it, barely succeeded, and then twisted around to try to grab it for himself. It skittered away from just under his fingertips.

Laurie grabbed his shoulder in an unexpectedly powerful hold and shoved him onto his back on the forest floor. “What gives you the right to come after us, when you’re spending time with a vampire?” She straddled Dri. She’d dropped her other knife somewhere, and was now using a combination of her magic and strength to keep him pinned down. One hand clenched around his throat.

Dri struggled to breathe. “You were killing people!”

She snarled at him, tightening her grip. Dri started to see spots in front of his eyes.

He gasped in as much air as he could in his next breath, gritted his teeth together, and shoved at her as hard as he could.

It wasn’t enough to dislodge her, but the hand around his throat loosened, he gasped in more air, and braced himself. With his good hand he grabbed one of her wrists and twisted.

Laurie howled in pain as the bone moved past its intended range of motion and she tried to pull away. Dri dug his fingernails into her skin, and when she pulled away again he kicked out with everything he had. Laurie fell to the ground and Dri jumped to his feet, gasping for breath and looking for a weapon. Benny was still lying on the ground, motionless.

Laurie got to her feet too, and the wind picked up. Dri swallowed, hoping that Laurie had escaped their notice during the hunt because she wasn’t all that powerful and not because she was smart. Witches were hard enough to kill when he wasn’t injured, tired, and weaponless.

The sky grew dim as clouds started rolling in over the sun and the temperature dropped. The wind whipped around the trees, sending fragments of branches flying out and around. Dri had to bat more than a few of them away from his face.

Dri gritted his teeth together in determination. There was no time to look for a weapon. Laurie was going to throw magical attacks at him until he went down and they were just going to get stronger the longer he waited. A glance to one side informed him that Benny was struggling back to consciousness, but there wasn’t time to wait for him to be up for a fight.

Dri charged straight at the witch, hoping that the element of surprise would accomplish what he couldn’t hope to alone.

Laurie’s eyes widened in shock when she realized what he was doing, but her body didn’t respond in time for her to defend herself. The two of them collapsed to the ground in a tangle of limbs and shouts. The magic died around them as her concentration broke, the weather restoring itself to where it was supposed to be.

Nails dug into Dri’s stomach, but he refused to give into the instinct to get himself free. A different set of nails raked down his face and he felt blood begin to drip down in slow and steady lines. They seemed locked into an impassable moment, where neither of them would give any ground and neither of them could gain any.

A knife slid into his field of vision, kicked towards him over the forest floor and Dri didn’t spare a thought to where it had come from before taking it and finishing the job.

Shaking a little, Dri got to his feet and backed away from the body.

“You alright?”

Dri jumped a little at Benny’s voice. He nodded. “I’ll be fine. You?”

“I could use a meal, but I’ll be okay.” Benny looked over at the dead witch. “We should get out of here.”

Dri nodded. “I’ve still got my wallet. We find a motel, I can get us a room. We can get cleaned up and call Cas, Sam, and Dean.”

“That sounds like a good idea.”

Nerves frayed, both of them started to plod their way towards civilization and the prospect of a hot shower.


	11. Watch All the Things You Do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flirting must have changed since the last time Benny tried it, because he doesn’t remember it being this complicated.

Benny followed Samandriel into the motel room, relieved to be out of the sun and - presumably - out of danger.

“You can go shower,” he told the hunter. “I’ll call Dean.”

“You sure?”

“You need it more than I do. You’ve got blood to rinse off, and you really should clean up your hand.”

Dri looked at his injured hand like he’d almost forgotten about it. “Fair enough.” He entered the bathroom.

Benny stretched and reached for the phone sitting on the room’s nightstand. He was halfway through dialing the number when the bathroom door reopened and Samandriel stepped out. He was still dressed, and very definitely not wet. Benny gave him a once-over, one eyebrow raised.

“Unless you’ve learned how to stop time while you shower, I don’t think you understood what you were supposed to be doing, pigeon.” Dri gave him a pointed look for the nickname, which Benny was unfazed by. “What’s the matter?”

He managed to make a scowl like both embarrassed and annoyed. “I can’t get my shirt off because of my hand.”

“Are you asking me to help you take your clothes off?” Benny asked, smirking.

Samandriel’s scowl grew more annoyed. “You’re an ass.”

“Yeah, I know. Dean tells me regularly. Come here.”

Samandriel shuffled over, looking unhappy. Not that he tended to look any other way. At this point Benny was almost certain that the younger Novak brother was one of those people that liked being grouchy. Either that or he had some serious issues he should probably start working on.

“Thanks,” Samandriel muttered once Benny had helped him get the shirt off and handed it to him. It was a good thing that he turned around and headed back to the bathroom almost immediately, because Benny couldn’t stop himself from staring.

Benny was pretty sure he should feel like a total creep, considering he was a century or two older than the young hunter he was staring at, but he really couldn’t bring himself to be bothered. After all, if he limited his options to people in his own age group he’d be stuck with… well, with people who weren’t really people.

And if Samandriel had a problem with it he really shouldn’t have taken off his shirt right in front of the vampire. His muscles were lean and well-defined. He was thin, so every line on his back and chest was pure muscle. There wasn’t an ounce of fat anywhere. His collarbones, shoulder blades, and spine were visible against the skin, and Benny didn’t get control of himself in time to stop from imagining running his teeth over them. His perfectly human teeth. It was _that_ kind of a biting fantasy. Benny licked his lips.

And then there were the tattoos, on top of everything else. Benny had seen Castiel without his shirt a few times over the last two months, taken in all of his tattoos, but Samandriel’s were more striking to him, somehow. Samandriel’s back wasn’t covered with them the way Castiel’s was, just a pair of outstretched angel wings starting at his spine and unfurling out to creep around to the front of his shoulders. Before Samandriel had turned his back to him, Benny had caught a glimpse of a small tattoo on his stomach that lingered just a little too close to the top of Samandriel’s jeans. It had been a small scroll with some writing on it, and Benny was suddenly overcome with a desire to pin the hunter down and have him tell every story behind every tattoo. Every detail.

Benny shook his head and reached for the phone again. His life was plenty complicated enough; the last thing he needed was to develop an attraction to a hunter that had definitely wanted his head on a spike twelve hours earlier, and might still. Benny didn’t have any idea if their truce was going to last now that they were out of danger and the other three would be joining them before long.

He told Dean where to find them, assured Cas that Dri was fine, and hung up. Dri emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later. Benny looked up at him, and almost wished he’d come out shirtless. His hair was dripping onto his shoulders and his chest was still damp, making the shirt cling to him in ways that were almost obscene.

“They on their way?”

It took Benny’s brain a moment to get off the track of wondering just how much muscle Dri had hidden away and figure out what he was talking about. “What? Oh, yeah. Should be here in about an hour. Your brother’s worried about you.”

“He usually is.” Samandriel flopped down on the other bed. “You going to shower?”

Benny thought that would be a good idea. Perhaps a cold one. Icy, in fact. “Yeah, I think so. How’s your hand?”

Dri held it up. It certainly looked better; much closer to a normal skin color and some of the blisters seemed to be gone.

“Hurts less now. And the swelling’s gone down a little.”

Benny nodded. “That’s good. I’ll, uh, - I’m going to shower now.” He bolted into the bathroom, wondering if Samandriel had noticed the odd pitch to his voice.

It was stupid. Idiotic. He had gone decades without having any interest in anyone. There hadn’t been a point. Plenty of pretty women and attractive men had crossed paths with him. He’d been flirted with. No interest had ever been sparked.

But this kid, this scrawny kid with punk hair that looked like it wasn’t sure what a hair brush was, was getting under his skin and making him itch. Itch for what he didn’t exactly know, but Benny wasn’t optimistic about the feeling going away any time soon. Samandriel was around too much for that.

And what if their truce did last? What if they became friends? A part of Benny wanted that, wanted to know what Samandriel was like when he wasn’t on edge and defensive; wanted to know what sort of jokes he laughed at and what he watched on television, and if he and his brother bantered like Sam and Dean did.

Another part of him wasn’t sure if he’d be able to spend so much time around the hunter and resist the urge to do something. Benny had never mastered the art of restraining himself when he wanted something, and there was something about the hunter that he most definitely wanted.

He ducked under the spray of water, telling himself to get a grip on his hormones. It was just because they’d been stuck together all night. The thrill of not being dead. That was it. Nothing more to it. And he’d repeat that to himself for as long as it took to convince himself it was true.

* * *

Lying to oneself isn’t nearly as easy as the average person would like it to be, but lying to others is simple enough, and with enough practice either one can be managed.

Benny had a lot of practice under his belt.

Certainly, nobody seemed to notice that Benny’s attitude towards Samandriel was any more different than it should have been. They had fallen into an easy sort of friendship - Samandriel using his name instead of just ‘bloodsucker’ and ‘vampire’ had been a good start - and nobody was asking if there was anything else going on.

There wasn’t anything to imply that something was going on, Benny supposed. It wasn’t like he was trailing after Samandriel like a lovesick puppy or staring wistfully at him when he thought no one was looking. He’d caught Dean doing the latter to Cas more than once. It was a little sweet, but more than a little disgusting.

He hardly ever called Samandriel ‘Dri’ though. He liked the way Samandriel rolled off his tongue, as if the grace of the angel he was named after was imbued in the syllables. The hunter didn’t seem to mind, saying that people mostly only called him Dri because Samandriel was such a mouthful. If they wanted to hassle with it, that was their choice.

The atmosphere amongst the five hunters - Benny always thought it odd to consider himself a hunter, but he supposed it was accurate - lightened substantially. They started spending more time together, usually going out for drinks after hunts or really anytime they weren’t busy with other things.

On one such night, Benny had to resist the urge to laugh when Samandriel buried his blushing face into his arms in an attempt to escape the sight of his brother.

“Cas, for the hundredth time, I’m glad you’re happy, I really am, but please, _please_ , stop making out with your boyfriend in front of me.”

“I agree with Dri,” Sam chimed in. “I don’t need to know this much about your kissing technique, Dean. Go get a room.”

“We have a room,” Cas pointed out.

“Then use it,” Sam and Dri said in perfect unison.

Dean rolled his eyes, grabbed Cas by the collar, and kissed him again, making a show of it. They resurfaced to the sounds of their younger brothers gagging. Dean grinned in triumph.

Benny rolled his eyes. “You’re very mature, Dean.”

“I know. It’s tough work, being this grown up around all you children.”

Benny raised an eyebrow. Samandriel caught his eye with an identical expression and they both smirked.

“You’re older than Benny, huh?” Samandriel asked. “I’d watch out, Cas, I don’t think Michael would approve of that age difference.”

Cas snorted. “Michael never approves of anything.”

Sam took a swig of his beer. “Have you told your family you’re hunting with more people?”

“Nope,” Samandriel said as Cas shook his head. “They’d want to meet you, and that probably wouldn’t end well.”

Benny grinned. “I can only imagine how they’d react to me.”

Cas snorted so hard and so suddenly that his drink sloshed out and over the table. Samandriel pushed napkins at him with the long-suffering look that only siblings could have. “If you meet our family, Benny, you should probably start running. You think we were suspicious of you when we found out you were a vampire? We’d be angels next to them.”

“They’re vicious when they want to be,” Samandriel agreed.

“Glad you didn’t decide to sic them on me,” Benny said easily, giving Samandriel a pointed look.

He shot back a cocky smile. “I thought about it a few times. Figured I’d prefer killing you myself, if it came to that.”

“I’m touched.”

Samandriel kicked him under the table. Benny scowled, but couldn’t keep up the pretense of being annoyed for more than a few seconds. The hunter was making him soft. It was sickening.

Abruptly, Sam got to his feet. “I’m out of here.”

Benny looked over to see that Cas and Dean had disregarded their complaints and were back at it. He rolled his eyes and laughed at Sam’s retreating back.

“He’s just jealous,” Dean muttered when he and Cas paused for air.

“Right. I’m sure that’s it,” Samandriel deadpanned.

“Don’t be a smart-ass, Dri,” Cas ordered, and then he and Dean were right back at it again.

Samandriel made a disgusted face and Benny laughed.

“Want to get out of here, angel?” Whether it was because it was newer or because it referred to something a little more impressive than a dumb species of bird, Samandriel seemed to prefer that nickname to pigeon, and Benny was willing to acquiesce. Sometimes.

“Yes.” Samandriel was halfway out of his seat before the word was even finished.

Benny chuckled and followed at a more leisurely pace, deciding that if Cas and Dean would rather make out than pay attention to their company the could pay for the drinks. They’d probably be annoyed later, but he couldn’t be bothered to care about that just yet.

Samandriel was waiting in the parking lot, looking impatient.

“Don’t act like you’ve been out here for hours, pigeon, it’s been maybe thirty seconds.”

“When I have to watch my brother stick his tongue in some other guy’s mouth, thirty seconds _feels_ like thirty years.”

“Drama queen.”

“I am not!”

“He says dramatically.”

Samandriel punched Benny’s arm. “Ass.”

“Uh-huh. What do you want to do?”

Samandriel shrugged. “I don’t know. But I think Sam took the Impala, and Cas has the keys to his car, so I guess we’re walking.”

“Works for me. We could use the exercise.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“You’re scrawny.” He wasn’t, was actually so excellently in shape that Benny found it hard to believe that he even knew what junk food was, even when he was scarfing down pancakes or potato chips. But Benny wasn’t going to let on that he’d noticed. Besides, it was worth it for the offended look on Samandriel’s face.

“I am not scrawny.”

“Or dramatic,” Benny agreed with mock seriousness.

“Damn right.”

They’d made their way down the street and away from the bar, and Samandriel looked up at the sky.

“You know anything about constellations, Benny?” he asked.

Benny followed his gaze up. Only a few stars could be seen due to the light pollution, but he supposed the view was decent enough. “Not really. I know the names of a few, but I don’t know where to find them. I’m guessing you do?”

“Astronomy was one of the only classes I actually did well in during high school. I was interested in it, and I guess it kinda became a hobby of mine.”

Benny looked up again. He’d seen plenty of starry nights, they’d never done much for him. It was good to know they were there, especially after he and Samandriel had been forced to wander around a forest under a black sky with no moon or stars, but beyond that they didn’t get much thought. He’d always felt that they were too far off to be bothered with. Why think about stars when there was probably something waiting to kill you much closer to home?

“I think astronomy’s always been a little too ‘big picture’ for me.”

“That’s half the point,” Samandriel said. He sounded patient but eager, like he really wanted Benny to understand what it was that he liked about it. Not at all like the irritated tone he usually had when he was trying to explain something. This was completely different. His face was lit up, his eyes focused, his voice engaging. Benny couldn’t have stopped listening if he’d wanted to.

Not that he wanted to.

Samandriel gestured upwards. “It’s just… Look, there’s all this shit going on down here, right? You let your guard down for two seconds and you’ve got demons trying to trick you and ghosts throwing things around and werewolves and shifters and God only knows what else are everywhere. And on top of that we know Hell is real, because demons have to be coming from somewhere, but maybe Heaven exists, or maybe it doesn’t, we just don’t know.

“But you look up there, and you learn about all these stars, and planets, and everything, and you know there has to be more. More bad, probably, but more good too. There are other worlds out there, Benny. Those stars are millions of light-years away, and some of them are dead by now, and there are some that are alive but too young for us to see, and most of them have planets around them, and some of those planets _must_ have life on them. New life, life that we can’t even begin to imagine because it’s just that different, and…” He broke off, seeming to struggle for the words that would adequately explain everything he was trying to say.

“You don’t have enough unexplained things around you already?”

“Not like that. It’s a whole different kind of unexplained, Benny. I don’t know how to explain, but it’s just so amazing.”

It was as if the heat of one of those stars had settled into Samandriel’s body. His eyes were bright with enthusiasm, his face flushed as he tried to get across just what it was about the sight that he connected with.

Benny wasn’t certain he quite understood Samandriel’s obsession, but anything that could put an expression like that on someone as perpetually irritable as Samandriel was something worth obsessing over.

“So you know where to find all the constellations?” Benny asked after a minute or two had passed in silence. Samandriel had started to shift uneasily, as though regretting letting Benny know that he had interests outside of hunting.

Samandriel nodded, lighting up again. “Yeah.” He spun slowly on the spot, looking up at the sky. Benny wasn’t sure what he was looking for. There weren’t enough stars for Samandriel to be able to put out any constellations.

“Okay,” Samandriel said, pointing up. “You can’t see it right now, because of all the light pollution and cloud cover and stuff, but that’s where you could see the Andromeda galaxy from. It’s the only galaxy visible to the naked eye from our hemisphere. Except our galaxy, obviously.”

“Obviously. An entire galaxy, huh?”

Samandriel nodded. “Anyone who says we’re alone in the universe has a serious ego problem. The universe is too big for that to be possible.”

“So you take alien abduction stories seriously then?” Benny asked, only half kidding.

Samandriel scowled and punched his shoulder. “No. I said I believe other species exist, not that they’re coming here to beam people up and probe them, or whatever other shit people are always talking about. Back to the ego thing.”

“Don’t think we’re special enough to warrant a visit from E.T., huh, angel?”

“If you were a life form from another planet, would you come here?”

Benny looked around at the dark streets surrounding them. There were buildings that looked like they were in desperate need of being remodeled, streetlights that flickered on and off periodically, and two blocks ago they’d passed a group of teenagers smoking in an alley and generally looking shifty.

“I guess it wouldn’t be my first pick. Don’t you want the proof though?”

Samandriel shrugged. “Doesn’t really matter to me. In fact, I think I’d prefer not to have it. Some things are better when all you can do is imagine them, you know?”

Unbidden, thoughts sprang to Benny’s mind. The times he’d imagined being human again, imagined Andrea back with him by some miracle. Remembered how often he’d laid awake imagining how wonderful it would be to kill his old nest, and how anti-climatic it had seemed once it was done.

He nodded. “I think you’re right about that.”

Samandriel tilted his head to one side with a curious stare, but didn’t press the subject.

The remaining distance to the motel was filled with pleasant and meaningless small talk. Just as they reached the parking lot, Samandriel reached into his pocket for his cigarettes and lighter. Benny caught his eye with a reproving stare.

“What?”

“Didn’t I tell you those things would kill you?”

Samandriel rolled his eyes so hard that Benny was amazed he didn’t give himself a headache. “Benny, if I live long enough to be killed by smoking I’ll consider myself lucky.”

It was twisted, how dismissive humans could be about their lifespans, as if every year, month, day, minute, second, didn’t matter. Hunters were the worst of the lot. One would think that people who devoted their lives to saving others would be more concerned about their own safety, but they weren’t. They treated themselves like tools; objects to be thrown away the moment they’d outlived their usefulness. It was depressing.

On an unrelated note, Samandriel’s mouth around the cigarette was distracting and not at all what Benny needed to be fixating on.

“They also make you smell bad,” Benny argued, somewhat lamely.

“Good. Keep you from eating me.”

“Oh, are we back to that?”

Samandriel grinned. “Hey, you never know what might happen, right? Pays to be prepared.”

“You’re a brat.”

“I thought I was an angel?”

“No, you’re an obnoxious species of bird that people wish would find somewhere else to go.”

Samandriel snorted. “And here I was thinking pigeon was a term of endearment.”

“I don’t use endearing terms on obnoxious hunters with too many piercings.”

Samandriel raised an eyebrow, lowered his cigarette, and stepped up so he and Benny were staring eye-to-eye, less than a foot between them. “What did you just say about my piercings?”

“That you have too. Damn. Many.”

“You’re just jealous because you couldn’t pull it off if your life depended on it.”

“Is that what you’re doing? Pulling it off?”

The cigarette was ground out underneath the toe of a sneaker. “Damn. Right.”

“Yeah? Getting you all the girls, is it?”

Samandriel shrugged, easing off a little. “Would be, if I ever called them after they gave me their numbers on the back of bar napkins.”

“So why don’t you?”

Samandriel gave him an easy smile. “Not really my type.”

So he was gay. Benny had thought so, had caught the sound of his heart beating just a little faster when they passed particularly attractive men, had seen him pay just a little more attention to the male movie stars taking their shirts off, but he hadn’t been certain. It could be so hard to tell.

“Getting you all the boys then?”

Something flickered behind Samandriel’s features, but the hunter shoved it down and away so quickly that Benny didn’t have a prayer of identifying what it had been.

“Sure. Any boy I want.”

Something in his tone was tight and Benny thought it would be a good idea to quit before he got too far ahead and ruined their easy banter. He moved the subject towards Cas. “If you say so, angel. That what your brother uses? Lured Dean in by the use of earrings and an eyebrow piercing?”

“I think Cas just offers to show off his tattoos.”

“He the type to take his shirt off on the first date?”

“Probably would if you gave him enough cheeseburgers.”

Benny laughed. “How about you then, angel? What does a guy have to offer to make you show off your tattoos?”

Samandriel held out his arms, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up to just above his elbows. “There’s most of them. What can I say, I’m pretty cheap.”

“What about the other ones? You’ve got those wings of yours, and that one on your stomach.” The one on Samandriel’s stomach had been driving Benny slowly insane for weeks now. He hadn’t gotten close enough to see what it said, and he was being gripped by a burning need to know exactly what was written there and why Samandriel had deemed it worthy to be there.

Samandriel grinned in a way that didn’t meet his eyes. “And why would I tell a vampire how to get me to take my clothes off?”

“Do you have a lot of problems with vampires trying to seduce you into the bedroom?” Benny asked. He felt like he was beginning to go down a road that might very well take him somewhere he didn’t want to be going and that he wouldn’t be able to return from, but he couldn’t seem to stop the words coming out of his mouth. He was swimming without anything to keep him afloat, but the possibility of the flirting not being entirely innocent was keeping him from heading for shore.

“You know how vampires are,” Samandriel said flippantly. “Can’t keep it in their pants. Got shit taste too.”

“Don’t you ever read? Vampires are hopeless when it comes to love. We never stand a chance.”

“Maybe you’d do better if you’d stop moping around, bemoaning what a terrible monster you are.”

“Are you accusing me of moping?”

“Hey, I’m just saying what the books have to say on the subject.”

“I don’t mope.”

“No?”

“No.”

The two of them had somehow moved so close that they were breathing each other’s air. Benny could hear Samandriel’s heart thudding inside his chest, the blood coursing through his system. He licked his lips and swallowed. Samandriel locked eyes with him and neither of them moved for a period of time that could have been anywhere between seconds and centuries.

Benny was about to throw caution to the wind and end the standoff when a car pulled into the parking lot. The two of them were caught in its headlights and the spell was broken. Samandriel jumped away and backwards, eyes wide for a moment before bolting back towards the room he shared with Sam. Benny looked toward the car to see Cas and Dean tumbling out of it, laughing.

Dean raised a hand and waved at him, grinning. Benny waved back, forcing a smile.

Dean’s cock-blocking skills were really getting out of hand.

* * *

Samandriel didn’t look him in the eye for a week after that.

Not in an aggressive way, like he had been before the two of them managed to ease their way into a friendship. Then, it had been a haughty sort of avoidance as Samandriel went around believing that Benny wasn’t worthy of having his existence be acknowledged.

Now it was just uncomfortable as Samandriel all but ran for his life when Benny entered the room, or paid a disproportionate amount of attention to how much butter he should coat onto his pancakes in the morning.

Not that Benny was any better. He gave excuses to not go places where neither of them would have an escape route, found positions to sit in that would avoid any unintentional interaction, and made himself feel like a child. _Dean_ had less issues with potential romantic commitment than this.

Luckily for both of them, Dean and Castiel were hopelessly oblivious, and Sam seemed determined to mind his own business, whether he’d noticed or not. Everyone else in the world, however, wasn’t so merciful.

Benny would go to grab drinks at a bar, and someone would wink suggestively, jerk their head towards their table, and tell Benny he should definitely ask out the cute one, he was _so_ interested.

They went to the library to do some research together - reluctantly forced together by Dean, who didn’t realize they didn’t want to - and when Benny got up to grab some books and came back to an empty table, a well meaning employee told him his boyfriend had gone to use one of the laptops on the other side of the building.

Benny usually went red at these conversations, and blustered a little in an attempt to explain that they weren’t together, even as he tried to convince himself that whatever the hell was going on between them they really needed to move on from it, before one of them did something supremely idiotic.

He should have realized that idiocy is inevitable where hunters are concerned, and the immortal undead aren’t much better.

Samandriel was driving Castiel’s car, Benny in the passenger seat, going to grab their things from the motel before they left town. The two of them had been the only ones never seen by the authorities, who were now trying to arrest Sam, Dean, and Castiel on all sorts of charges, including, but not limited to, grave robbery, impersonation of federal agents, and assault. Dean insisted the bar fight hadn’t been his fault, but no one seemed to believe him.

At any rate, Samandriel and Benny were grabbing their things and wiping down the motel rooms before the police figured out that was where they’d been staying. Sam, Dean, and Cas were already out of town.

“They’re idiots,” Samandriel said once they were there and loading up the car.

“Not just figuring that out now, are you?”

“Sometimes I let myself hope that they’ve gotten smarter.”

“I don’t think that’s ever going to happen.”

“What the hell did they do before us? Cas was hunting for two years before I joined him. I don’t know how he survived.”

“Dean’s the real mystery. If Sam fucks up it’s usually just bad luck, Dean fucks up because he’s being stupid or cocky.”

Samandriel shook his head, grinning, but abruptly stiffened and pulled his features back to stoic.

That happened a lot too. They’d get comfortable together, realize what they were doing, and go back to being standoffish and awkward.

They returned to the car in silence, moving a little faster when they caught the sound of sirens in the distance.

Samandriel glanced in the mirror, biting his lip. “I don’t think they’re after us.”

Benny twisted to look behind him. “I don’t think so either. So long as they don’t have license plate numbers for this car or the Impala, we should be safe.”

Samandriel nodded. There was semi-awkward quiet for a minute, then Samandriel reached for the stereo and turned it up.

Benny couldn’t decide if he should direct his judgmental stare to Samandriel or the CD player. “Green Day, huh?”

Samandriel raised an eyebrow that looked like a challenge. “You have a problem with our taste in music?”

“Oh, no problem. Just wouldn’t have pegged you for such a cliche.”

“Excuse me? A what?”

“You heard me. Come on, you have the hair, the piercings, the tattoos… And now even the music. You going to dye your hair black next?”

“Would I be hot with black hair?”

“Not as hot as your are with your natural hair color,” Benny replied before realizing what was coming out of his mouth.

Samandriel jerked the steering wheel and nearly ran them off the road. He slammed on the brakes, making Benny grateful for seatbelts and hope there was nothing fragile in the car. Once they were stopped along the shoulder, Samandriel slammed the off button on the radio.

“What the hell was that, angel?”

“For fuck’s sake, Benny, you can’t just say stuff like that!”

“Like what?”

“Like… Like…” Samandriel was gesturing wildly, and it was a good thing he’d pulled over, because he definitely should not have been behind the wheel of a car right then. “Like that! And you need to quit calling me angel, and talking about my hair, and everything, because I…”

His voice was shaking and cracking over the words, and Benny could hear his heart racing in his chest.

“Why not?” he asked carefully.

“You know why not.”

“Not really. Why don’t you want to… You know.”

Samandriel looked like he’d been backed into a corner, eyes wide. “I… I just don’t. So please stop.”

Swallowing hard, Benny nodded. There was a burning disappointment in the pit of his stomach that he wouldn’t have expected, and he desperately wanted to push for an answer, but he didn’t. Samandriel didn’t owe him that. Samandriel didn’t owe him anything. If he didn’t want to do anything… They wouldn’t do anything. Benny could suck it up and get over whatever it was making him think like a horny teenager.

“Okay, ang- Samandriel. Okay, Samandriel. I’ll stop.”

To Benny’s surprise, instead of looking relieved, Samandriel made a frustrated noise that sounded like a cross between a growl and a groan and he reached across the seats. Samandriel grabbed Benny by the collar, yanked him over with more strength than his size implied he had, and pressed their mouths together in a messy clash of teeth and lips and tongues.


	12. Your Aspirations To Shreds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Samandriel has crossed a line he’s fairly certain he didn’t want to cross. He’s also fairly certain he doesn’t want to go back over it.

Samandriel couldn’t figure out what he was doing. Benny had backed off. He’d looked a little disappointed, but he’d nodded and backed off and said it was okay and made it clear that if Dri wasn’t interested he wasn’t going to try anything.

And somehow, that was what had pushed Samandriel to close the distance between them and finally get the kiss that he’d been thinking about for weeks.

It was the dumbest fucking decision he had ever made and he was trying to make himself regret it.

He wasn’t having much luck, however, because, as it turned out, once Benny realized what was going on and started responding appropriately he was a fantastic kisser. Better than Adam had been, even, and Adam had been, like, professionally trained or something.

Benny moved slightly and Dri, to his own horror, made a whining noise in the back of his throat, hoping that Benny wasn’t going to pull away already.

He felt Benny smile against his mouth, felt their teeth click together for a moment when he spoke. “Little needy there, angel?”

“Shut up,” Dri murmured back, unable to put any venom into the words.

Benny chuckled and Dri felt the noise in his own throat. A large hand gripped the back of Dri’s neck, warm and reassuring. Benny adjusted for a better angle, deepening the kiss.

Dri didn’t realize he was out of breath until Benny finally pulled away and he started gasping. Benny chuckled, resting their foreheads against each other. He buried his hands in Dri’s hair, gently moving his fingers. “Alright, angel?”

Dri had ever intention of saying something clever, but all that came out was a sound that sounded horrifyingly like a purr.

“That’s cute.”

“Shut up.”

“No.”

Dri pulled away enough to look Benny in the eye, taking a deep breath in an attempt to steady himself and calm down his libido.

“This is a bad idea.” He did his best to sound like he meant it.

“You kissed me, you realize that?”

“Yeah. But I shouldn’t have. It was a bad idea.”

“You mentioned that. Mind if I ask why?”

“I just is, okay?”

“You know, that sounds a lot like what you said a few minutes ago. _Before_ you kissed me.”

Samandriel resisted the urge to hit him. This really was on him, he couldn’t make it out to be Benny’s fault that he was an idiot when it came to having control over his own emotions.

“Look, I’m sorry, okay? And it wasn’t like you were bad, because you weren’t. That was great, actually. Best kiss I’ve ever had. Oh God, why did I say that? I just mean-” Dri was almost grateful when Benny leaned over and kissed him again to shut him up. He was starting to babble.

Benny pulled away again, looking at him expectantly. Dri bit his lip hard enough to hurt and tugged at an earring. “We just shouldn’t do this.”

“You’ve said.”

Dri glared at him. “Do you have anything helpful to say?”

“Why?”

“Because telling me that I’m repeating myself isn’t getting us anywhere.”

Benny flicked his ear. “You know what I meant. Why shouldn’t we do this?”

“Well…” Dri fumbled for an explanation that might work. “Well, you’re a vampire for starters.”

Benny gave rolled his eyes with such dramatic flair that Dri was gripped by a sudden urge to have him, Gabriel, and Balthazar have a competition. “We’re not really going back to that old argument, are we, angel?”

“Didn’t I say not to call me angel?”

“You did. Then you kissed me, so I figured it was probably a moot point.”

“Asshat.”

“Is that better or worse than just an ass?”

“You’re worse than my brothers.”

“I try.” Benny reached out to play with Dri’s hair.

“Would you quit that?”

Benny drew his hand back. “Okay.”

Dri groaned, slumping forward so his forehead ended up against Benny’s shoulder. “This would be a lot easier if you’d quit being nice about it.”

“I thought I was an ass?”

“You are,” Dri insisted. “But you’re not _being_ an ass, and it’s making this more complicated than it needs to be.”

Now Benny just looked confused, and Dri didn’t blame him. Communication really wasn’t a strong point of his, he was aware.

“You don’t really owe me an explanation for not wanting a relationship,” Benny said slowly, “but do you think you could clarify that just a little? I’m getting some pretty mixed signals here, pigeon.”

“God, again with the pigeon thing?”

“Now you’re just avoiding the subject.”

Samandriel refrained from sticking out his tongue like a child. He settled back into his seat with a sigh. “I just don’t do relationships, okay? They don’t work well. And with my brother always being around, and the hunting, and you are a vampire, you can’t deny that, and… And it just wouldn’t be a good idea, okay?”

He hoped Benny would let it go at that, and that he could refrain from losing his self-control again. There had been something exceptionally attractive in Benny’s acceptance of Dri’s refusal, despite being disappointed. He hadn’t sulked or told Dri he didn’t want to talk to him anymore or thrown a tantrum like a high-school student with a desperate need to get laid. Not the sort of thing Dri was used to. Of course, nothing with Benny operated the way things usually did.

Dri didn’t usually go head-over-heels for vampires, for one thing. He’d always had bad taste, he supposed, and he’d always fallen too hard, too fast, but having his heart skip a few times every time he looked at a certain soulless, bloodsucking abomination was taking it all to the next level.

Benny didn’t look convinced though. “So, basically, because you have problems with commitment?”

“No!” Dri knew that was exactly why, but denying it was just second nature at this point.

Benny was decidedly unimpressed. “You’re not real great at the whole lying thing, anybody ever told you that?”

“My brother, mostly. But he’s even worse than me, so I don’t listen.”

Benny laughed, and the sound echoed down into Dri’s ribcage. It was a bad idea to do this, Dri had no doubt about that, but he was beginning to question his ability to stick to his decision. Things had been much easier when Benny had just been an obnoxious vampire and Dri had been worried about being eaten if he dropped his guard.

Benny, who had still been leaned over between the seats, settled back with a sigh. “You are, however, pretty good at steering the conversation away from you.” He gave Dri a weary look, and something clicked in Dri’s mind that Benny really was old. A century or two, easily, although Dri wasn’t sure exactly. The weight of the years seemed to have settled behind Benny’s eyes in the span of just a few seconds. Dri swallowed the guilt of having been a part of putting them there.

“I’m sorry,” Dri said, voice small. “I just…”

“Don’t trust me to do my part in a relationship?” There was a long pause. Something like realization clicked across Benny’s face. “Or don’t trust yourself?”

Dri swallowed and stared at the steering wheel.

Benny sighed again, more resigned now. “You plan on hiding out for the rest of your life? Stick to your brother like glue and hope he doesn’t mind you being a third wheel? That’s a whole new level of co-dependence, Samandriel.”

Dri didn’t have a retort, too busy trying to not think about how good his name sounded with the syllables dragged out over Benny’s accent.

“You planning to duck out on everyone? Or am I just special?”

“That’s not fair,” Dri said softly, knowing he was lying.

“I think it’s pretty fair.” Benny turned his head to look out the window. “I guess we should start driving. Go meet up with the others.”

He was absolutely right, and was giving Samandriel a very nice way out of the incredibly uncomfortable conversation, but even still Samandriel found himself reluctant to put the car back in drive. He reached for the gear shift, tapped nervously on it for a moment, and pulled back.

“I don’t want to.”

Benny gave him a withering look and Samandriel gulped. He could feel himself sliding down a road he wasn’t going to be able to climb back up.

“Well, then, pigeon, do you mind telling me what it is that you _do_ want?”

“I’d love to.” There was a long, heavy pause. “I just haven’t figured it out yet.”

“Well, a minute ago you seemed to want to kiss me. And before that you seemed pretty certain you _didn’t_ want to kiss me.”

“So you see my problem.” Dri rubbed at his temples. “What I want is to not feel the way I do. Life was a lot less complicated when I hated you.”

“I prefer it when you don’t hate me, if that helps at all.”

“It doesn’t. Why can’t you just be a normal vampire and try to eat me? Then I could kill you and get back to my life. I’d still have bad taste, but I’ve learned to live with that.”

“Call me selfish, angel, but that doesn’t sound like a real attractive option to me.”

“I was afraid you’d say that.”

Benny observed him carefully, making Dri feel like a bug under a microscope. After a minute or two had passed in uncomfortable silence, Benny sighed and shook his head. He reached out, caught Samandriel under the chin, and kissed him again.

He pulled away before Dri could make up his mind about how he wanted to respond.

“Here’s how I see it,” Benny said, running a thumb across Dri’s cheek. “Your problem isn’t with me. Your problem is with the idea that you might have to drag yourself out of your comfort zone.”

Dri let out a shuddering sigh and leaned into Benny’s palm. He said nothing, but his lack of protest spoke for itself. “I don’t do relationships,” he repeated.

“All things considered, I don’t think we’d be doing picnics in the park and long walks in the mornings anyway.”

“I don’t commit.”

Benny gave him a small smile in return. “Wouldn’t dream of asking you to.”

“I fucking hate you.”

“You have the strangest way of showing affection, has anyone ever told you that?”

Dri smiled, leaned over, and kissed Benny. “Not in so many words, but I got the idea.”

Benny tugged lightly at his hair. “Want to tell your brother we’ll be awhile and get a motel room?”

“No.”

“That’s just a reaction, isn’t it? It’s not even a word to you.”

“I’m not an agreeable person.”

“I’ve noticed.” Benny gave Dri’s hair another light tug and pulled away. “Start driving, I’ll call Dean.”

Dri rolled his eyes, trying not to smile. “Fine. Motel room. Want to get dinner first?”

* * *

 

“Do you always go comatose this quickly after eating, angel?” Benny asked, a chuckle in his voice.

Dri, lying flat on his back on one of the motel room beds, waved him off. “That was the best dinner I’ve had in I don’t even know how long, give me a few minutes to recover.”

The bed dipped down under a new weight, springs squeaking in protest. “I’ll have to remember that good food puts you in a better mood.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Dri asked turning his head to look at Benny. He was only a few inches away, and smiling.

“Means that was the most sincere smile I’ve seen on your face since I met you.”

“I’ve smiled before.”

“Not really.”

Dri thought about smacking Benny’s shoulder but decided it sounded like a lot of effort. He’d definitely eaten too much at dinner. “I have a high stress job. I don’t have to be friendly.”

A weight settled on top of him and Dri opened his eyes to see that Benny was now hovering directly above his face. “Well, if you were friendly everyone would like you, and then where would we be?” He bent down for a kiss, which Dri returned, smiling against his will. Benny was beginning to have that effect on him, and Samandriel wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

“If you’re trying to tell me I’m unlikeable, I’m fully aware. It’s a genetic condition.”

“Is it now?”

Dri nodded, his seriousness only slightly exaggerated. “I have six siblings and only one of them managed to get out of it. She claims it’s because she’s the only girl.”

“Your whole family is as weird as you and Cas, that what you’re telling me?”

“I have a brother named Lucifer. Another brother owns a strip club. One brother speaks with a fake English accent because he got bored one day when he was twelve and he never stopped. What more do you need to know?”

Benny pulled back and sat up next to Dri. Dri thought about following him up, but the bed was comfortable. He didn’t really need eye contact with Benny anyway. “All that true are you just good at making up stories?”

“True. Swear to God. Ask Cas. He’ll sigh with exasperation and agree.”

“Your family must be interesting.”

Dri shrugged. “I guess so. They’re… Well, they’re family. With all the pros and cons that comes along with that. You know how it is.”

Benny went still. It wasn’t much of a change, as the vampire had been pretty lethargic already, but the air in the room seemed to grow stiff. Dri sat up, concerned that he’d missed something.

“I guess,” Benny said at last, voice distant. “Don’t have much experience with it though.”

Dri winced. “Oh. Right. Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I like that you forget I’m so different from you.”

Dri maneuvered so that he was lying on his side next to Benny. “It’s weird.”

“Weird that I’m different?”

“That I forgot. I wouldn’t have thought that was possible. Not just because you’re a vampire either. I didn’t think I could forget things about people like that. But with you…” He let the sentence die, not sure how to finish it and not sure that he wanted to anyway. The way his brain seemed to shift into a previously unknown gear when Benny was concerned was something best left to be examined another day.

Benny’s hand found it’s way to Dri’s hair, and the hunter allowed himself to close his eyes and lean into the touch. It was nice right now. The idea of adding Cas and the Winchesters and their opinions into the mix made his heart race in his chest, but tonight he thought maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to let those thoughts rest. Just for a bit. Just for tonight, where the room was quiet and there were no big brothers to burst through the door and no hunts that might send something nasty breathing down their necks. Just for tonight, he’d let himself do what he wanted, not what was smart. He’d even manage to let his pride drop. For now. Just for now.

A content sigh escaped him. Benny’s weight shifted on the mattress, and Dri felt him settle by his side. A strong arm looped around his waist and then he was breathing in Benny’s scent. It was relaxing, he decided. The sort of smell you’d like your house to have when you walked in the door after a long day at work.

“Benny?” Dri asked a few minutes later, opening his eyes and propping himself up on one arm. Benny looked up at him expectantly. “Can I ask you a question? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

“Go ahead.”

“How’d you end up like this?”

Benny glanced down at himself and gave Dri a bemused look. “Like what, angel? That’s not a real specific question.”

“Like… How you are. Not a killer. I don’t care what teenage romance novels are saying these days, that doesn’t just happen.”

Benny smiled, but it wasn’t a happy one. His eyes grew distant, like Samandriel had grown invisible and Benny was now just staring through him.

“You don’t have to answer,” Dri repeated, feeling as though he may have stepped over a line he hadn’t known was there. “I was just curious, that’s all.”

“It’s okay,” Benny replied, still distant, voice softer than normal. He still didn’t meet Dri’s eyes. “You sure you want to know?”

Dri nodded. He hadn’t fully accepted it yet, but he recognized that he was in this now. And he could never do anything halfway. If he and Benny were going to let this happen, Dri was going to drown himself in it. He was going to question and push and get inside Benny’s head. He was going to cross lines he had no business crossing, and even if he backed back over them, he’d always stand too close to them. He was going to let Benny get his hooks into him, so deep that it would feel like he was dying when Benny inevitably ripped them out again.

But tonight wasn’t a night for wondering how to deal with that bridge.

Tonight was a night for listening to a story that Dri hadn’t thought Benny would tell so easily.

A story about vampires who were pirates. “Dean called us vampirates,” Benny said, chuckling. Dri rolled his eyes and tried not to look like he was thinking about a Benny version of Captain Jack Sparrow.

A story about a vampire who fell in love with an all too human woman. Dri mentally kicked himself for the vicious stab of jealousy that ripped through him and covered it up by accusing Benny of being a cliche. Benny shrugged; accepting and not offended.

“ _Andrea_ ,” he breathed, the words escaping from his lips as though he had no control over them. Dri said nothing, and the name made him think of the way Cas would say Meg’s name on days when her loss was cutting into him like shards of glass.

Dri wanted to throw up at the passive way Benny talked about how they’d been tracked down by Benny’s nest. How they’d held Benny down, tried to take off his head, but he’d fought them off. How it had been too late, and they’d torn out Andrea’s throat. How Benny had tracked them down and got his revenge, and then been left to his own devices until he fell in with the Winchesters. How Benny had spent most of that time hunting the things that needed hunting. The things he’d once called friends and brothers.

“But I don’t-” Dri said after the story had ended and a heavy silence fell into the inches between them. He’d been about to say he didn’t understand why Benny hadn’t tried to have a life after he was done with his revenge. He didn’t have the attitude of most hunters, where they just had to kill everything. Benny’s revenge was done, and he seemed more of the type to be able to lay his weapons down and let the world turn on now.

The answer came to him before he got the question out. “Oh. You were hoping one of them would kill you, weren’t you?”

Benny said nothing, but their hands had found each other at some point during the story, and Benny squeezed. It was answer enough.

Samandriel was good at killing things. He was good at sharpening knives and cleaning guns and driving his siblings crazy.

He wasn’t good at relationships or people or emotions.

So Dri did the only thing he could think of that might improve anything - he leaned over and kissed Benny. It was soft, gentle, questioning. He wasn’t sure where boundaries lay and he wasn’t ready to tear through them all yet, although he knew he would get there eventually. Like a train derailing. But for now, he could keep things light. He could kiss Benny and try to put comfort and sympathy into it without making Benny feel that he was trying to be a replacement or offering pity.

Benny kissed back, just as gentle, and cupped the back of Dri’s neck. Their mouths broke apart, but they didn’t pull away.

“You’re really something,” Benny said, and it was so soft that even another inch between them would have been enough to keep Dri from hearing it.

“Yeah,” Dri breathed back. Tonight wasn’t a night for arguing about it. Tonight wasn’t a night for giving voice to what he thought.

That didn’t stop his mind though. Didn’t stop the voice that sounded too much like his own from saying ‘Yeah. I’m something alright. Just not the something you seem to think.’

Tonight wasn’t a night for that.

The morning would be a different story.

* * *

 

“Morning, pigeon,” Benny greeted when Dri rolled over, squinting around. The vampire was already out of bed and drinking something out of a mug. Dri closed his eyes and told himself it was coffee. Benny drinking blood was all well and good, but it was too early in the morning to be thinking about it.

“Morning.” Dri considered falling back asleep. The bed was pretty comfortable.

Benny took a sip of his drink. “How are you feeling about last night?”

“Which part?”

“Any part. You decide you’re willing to give us a shot, or are you going to go running back to big brother and avoid me for a few weeks?”

“There’s no need to be so petty, Benny.”

“That’s not an answer, you know. You have something against straight answers?”

“It runs-”

“If you say it runs in the family, so help me, I’ll throw you out that window.”

Dri huffed and scowled. “Well, it _does_.”

Benny rolled his eyes. “You got an answer or not, angel?”

“The bed’s cold.”

“What?”

“The bed’s cold. It got cold because you got up.”

Benny just blinked at him.

Dri shook his head. Benny chose now to stop being observant? “Get back in bed, asshat. I’m still tired. And if that’s blood you’re drinking, rinse your mouth out first.”

Benny gulped down what was left, grinned at Dri - yep, definitely blood - and rinsed his mouth out at the sink before coming back to the bed.

“This mean you’re not going with the running option?”

It was too late for that. Samandriel had given an inch, and his emotions had taken a mile while he slept. He didn’t say so though. “Too tired to run. Get over here, warm me up. What’s the point of your size if I can’t leech body heat off of you?”

Benny laughed and shifted closer, pressing them together. “You’re so emotional, angel. Not sure if I can handle it all. But you know I don’t actually give off body heat, right? Comes with not having a pulse.”

Dri smacked Benny’s arm. “You trying to make me dump you?”

“Ah, so we _are_ in a relationship then?”

Dri’s heart lurched in his chest. He swallowed painfully. “Maybe.”

Benny gave him an odd, appraising look. “Do you just have a problem with the word? Is that it?”

“I told you, I don’t really do relationships. I’m not much good at them.”

Benny pulled Dri closer, so Samandriel could no longer see his face. “We’ll avoid the word for now, then. And give yourself some credit, would you? All about practice, you know. And it’s not like I’m a master.”

Dri bit back the temptation to point out that Benny hadn’t had a relationship in half a century and was still doing better at it than Dri was. It was too early in the morning for an argument, and he was really warm now that Benny was so close, whether that made any sort of sense or not. And he hadn’t been lying about still being tired.

He let the conversation drop, and Benny followed suit. The motel room was quiet for several minutes, and Dri was right on the edge of sleep, perfectly content with one of Benny’s arms draped over him when his phone started ringing.

He groaned and pulled away from Benny, rolling over and reaching for the offensive device.

“What?” he snapped, not bothering to check the caller ID first.

“Good morning to you too,” Cas replied. “Did spending the night with Benny just put you in that bad of a mood?”

“Yeah, something like that,” Dri grumbled. He looked back at Benny, who was watching him with mild interest.

“Is he still alive at least?” Dean asked.

“Where the hell did you come from, Winchester?”

“He eavesdrops on phone calls,” Cas said, and Dri had a sudden image of Cas pushing Dean away from the phone the way he’d once done to their older siblings whenever he was talking to Meg. “When are the two of you coming to meet us? Sam found a case in Kentucky and we want to get going.”

Lips were suddenly brushing against the back of his neck and he jumped, biting his lip to keep from making a noise in response. Telling Cas about him and Benny could wait until Dri figured out what was going on. If there was a certain amount of hypocrisy in the decision, Dri decided he could wait to think about that until later too.

“Well, um, we could… Hang on.” He lowered the phone and covered the mouthpiece. “When do you want to take off?”

Benny kissed one of his shoulders and looked at him with a suggestive expression. Samandriel swallowed, eyes widening. He brought the phone back to his ear. “How about later this afternoon? I really didn’t sleep well last night, I’m exhausted. I’ll let you know when we’re on our way.” The words spilled out quickly enough that Cas had to know he was hiding something, but Dri couldn’t bring himself to care. He hung up before his brother could respond, turned the phone to silent and turned his attention to Benny, who was smiling in triumph.

“You’re very friendly all of a sudden,” Dri told him, doing his best to keep his tone even and casual. Benny could probably hear his heart pounding, but Dri was determined to hold on to whatever shreds of dignity remained to him.

Benny hooked an arm around his waist and yanked him over. “You know, angel, when I asked you last night if you wanted to get a motel room, I wasn’t just thinking about you needing your beauty sleep. I just got distracted.”

He kissed Samandriel before the hunter could respond and Dri could feel his brain flickering off under the rush of emotions. The kiss was so deep that when Benny pulled away Dri was gasping for air. Somewhere along the line he’d gripped onto Benny’s shirt, balling the fabric up in his fists. “Oh. Sorry.”

Benny kissed him again, hands slipping up under Dri’s shirt as he did so. Benny’s fingers ran along the lines of his stomach, over his hips. He pulled away and yanked Dri’s shirt over his head. He tossed it across the room and neither of them paid any mind to where it landed. “Don’t be sorry. I appreciate you listening.”

Dri tilted his head, temporarily thrown out of the mood. “Why wouldn’t I listen?”

Benny grinned and kissed him again. Dri was too confused to kiss back properly. “The fact that you have to ask that is making me love you just a little bit more.”

Dri’s heart hammered against his rib cage. “We’re jumping to the ‘L’ word already, huh?”

Benny stopped running his fingers across Dri’s collarbone for a moment. “Just sort of slipped out, I guess.” He didn’t move again, watching Samandriel warily.

Dri set to work getting Benny’s shirt off, because being the only one half-naked was unfair. “I don’t mind.”

“Glad to hear it.”

Samandriel smiled against Benny’s mouth as the two of them tipped over so Dri was pinned to the mattress. If anything, Benny saying ‘love’ first was a relief. Spared Dri the worry of saying it too soon.

The two of them were fumbling at each other’s waistbands. Dri’s pants were too tight for comfort at this point, and if the problem wasn’t remedied soon he was going to start bucking up against Benny like some horny teenager, which would not be good for his pride. Thankfully, Benny seemed every bit as eager as him.

Jeans were kicked off, and then they were pressed flush against each other on the bed in nothing but their boxers and socks. There was something deeply amusing about them still being in their socks to Dri. He wasn’t sure exactly what, but it caused him to grin wider against Benny’s mouth, his teeth lightly scraping against lips.

Benny pulled away, and for a moment Dri thought he had done something wrong, but then a hot mouth attached itself to his throat, working against the skin in a way that Dri thought might drive him mad. The lips slowly made their way down his throat and to his collarbones, where Benny started sucking and nipping at him hard enough that Dri knew he’d leave a mark. It didn’t matter, he told himself. Nobody would be able to see it there, and it had been a long time since anyone had given him attention like this. It was making it difficult for him to breathe.

Of course, that could also have been attributed to where Benny’s thigh was and how much effort it was taking Dri to not just take care of business himself.

Benny was taking his sweet time now, and Dri was biting his lip in a desperate attempt to not sound too needy in response to whatever the hell it was that Benny was doing with his tongue. Fucking Adam had never felt anything like this.

Benny’s hands moved to his hips, pressing him down into the mattress and he raised his head a few inches. “What’s your tattoo mean?”

It took a minute for Dri’s brain to get back online. “Huh? Wha- Oh, that.” He panted for a minute, chest heaving. Benny laid light kisses across the tattoo in question. It wasn’t a very large one, just a simple scroll with some Latin written across it in flowing letters. “It’s ‘Fio, Fieri, Factus,’ which means, ‘Be made, be done, or become.’ Got it in high school.”

“I like it.” Benny started moving again, steadily going lower. Samandriel tilted his head back and shut his eyes.

Dri was completely naked a moment later, and he only had a moment to feel self-conscious before Benny had moved back up the bed and crashed their mouths together hard enough to make their teeth collide. Their legs intertwined and it was instantly clear that Benny was every bit as undressed as he was. Dri couldn’t stop the low whine that escaped his throat. In response, Benny just kissed him harder.

Dri fumbled for a moment, intending to make the first move on this one particular thing. He had barely wrapped his fingers around Benny’s length before he let out a moan so filthy that just the sound of it made Dri moan too. A moan that escalated as Benny moved to return the favor.

The position was far from comfortable, but Dri barely noticed. Everything was lips, tongue, teeth, heat, and skin; the only sounds their heavy breathing, groans, and skin on skin.

They came within seconds of each other, Benny with a groan, biting down on Dri’s bottom lip and digging the fingers of his left hand into Dri’s hip. Dri came with a noise that landed between a moan and a whimper, deepening his and Benny’s kiss until he wouldn’t have been surprised if their mouths were bruised in a few hours.

Panting, they fell back onto the bed, limbs still tangled up, hot breaths landing on each other’s cheeks. Dri was shaking with effort and release.

Time passed, whether minutes or hours Dri couldn’t begin to guess, before Benny moved, pushing Dri’s hair out of his face.

“God, you’re really something.”


	13. Maybe They'll Leave You Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Castiel’s protective older brother instincts are very confused about how they should feel about this latest development.

Cas gave his phone an odd look after Dri hung up. It was difficult to tell with Samandriel sometimes, but that had sounded suspicious.

“Everything alright?” Dean asked, leaning against his shoulder. They were both shirtless and Cas had no doubt that Dean was working on how to get Cas to change his mind about getting out of bed.

“Dri’s behaving oddly.”

“Isn’t he usually?” Dean’s attention was clearly not with what he was saying, because he was now kissing along Cas’ shoulders and the back of his neck.

“Odd by his standards.” Cas leaned over to set his phone on the nightstand. “I don’t think he’s in any trouble, however, so I’m not too worried.”

“Good. Worry will turn your hair gray. I never do it, personally.”

Cas fixed Dean with a skeptical stare. “You never worry?”

“Nope,” Dean replied, face lit up with a grin dumb enough to rival the worst Gabriel could muster.

Cas rolled his eyes and shook his head. “You are hopeless.”

Dean pushed him down so his head hit one of the pillows. “Yeah, and?”

Twenty minutes later, the two of them had barely moved, except to let Cas lay down properly on the bed to better accommodate Dean, who was now lying on top of him, kissing him until they both ran out of breath.

Dean pushed Cas’ hair, still slightly damp with sweat from earlier exertions, out of his eyes. “You need a haircut or something.”

“Do not.” Cas pulled Dean down and kissed him again, tongue and teeth clashing. Their kisses were sloppy and aggressive, even when they were relaxing. They could be chaste, but it didn’t seem to happen often. Cas didn’t mind.

“Well, you could at least brush it more often.”

“What would be the point? You’d just mess it up again. You, Dean Winchester, have a problem with keeping your hands to yourself.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Dean replied seriously, pushing his hands through Cas’ hair so that it splayed out against the pillow.

“You never do.”

Dean practically preened. Cas rolled his eyes again. Dean had the strangest ideas of what sorts of things qualified as compliments, and seemed oblivious to the idea that some things might not be.

Someone pounded their fist against the door. “Cas! Dean! Do you two plan on coming out at some point this year?”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Give us a minute, Sam.”

“You said that an hour and a half ago, Dean.”

“Yeah, well, we’ve been… _busy_.”

“Dude! I don’t need to know these things, okay? Just… You know what, forget it. Whatever.”

Dean chuckled, looking at Cas like he was expecting a reward.

“Dean, I would appreciate it if you didn’t use our sex life to taunt your brother.”

“Oh, don’t mind him. He’s just grumpy because I’m getting some action and he isn't.”

“I was mostly referring to the fact that I have difficulty looking Sam in the eye knowing that he’s aware of how many times we’ve had sex in the last few days.”

Dean huffed dismissively and rolled off of Cas, looking around for his clothes. “It’s not like I give him specifics.”

“Something we are _both_ grateful for, I’m sure.”

Dean looked around, holding a shirt in one hand. “Do you want to shower? I think I need to shower.”

“You do.” Cas told him simply. “You need to brush your teeth too.”

Dean raised an eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that you have morning breath and you should brush your teeth in order to get rid of it.”

Dean balled up the shirt and threw it at Cas’ face. Cas ducked and it fell harmlessly to the bed.

“You know, I was going to invite you to join me,” Dean said, approaching Cas and leaning over to look him in the eye. “But you-” he kissed him, “have just lost that right.”

“Fine,” Cas told him, making a show of sprawling out across the bed. “I didn’t want to shower with you anyway. You’d have gotten soap in my eyes.”

“When have I ever gotten soap in your eyes?”

“It’s an inevitability, I’m sure.”

“Inevitability, huh? You sound like Sam, using big college words to make yourself sound smart.”

“I don’t need big words to sound smart, it comes as a natural by-product of intelligence.”

Dean snorted. “Wish I’d waited to throw the shirt at you, that sentence was way more worthy of it.”

He slipped into the bathroom before Cas could retort.

The hunter grinned to himself, lying on the bed for another few minutes listening to the water run before he got up and began looking for his own clothes. He could probably use a shower too, he supposed, but he’d be fine as long as he brushed his teeth and pulled a comb through his hair.

He did so, and Dean was still in the shower, so Cas stepped out of the room for a cigarette. The room they were in technically allowed it, but Dean made a show of gagging at the smell every time Cas pulled one out, so he took it outside. Maybe Dri was right, maybe Dean _would_ manage to get him to quit. Or at least cut down on them. He mentally shrugged and decided that he didn’t actually care that much one way or another. He smoked more out of habit than anything else. Quitting probably wouldn’t be a big deal to him, if it came to that.

Sam came around the corner, looking mildly irritated, likely coming to yell at Dean to get moving again. Some of the anger cleared away when he saw Cas.

“Hey, Cas. Where’s Dean?”

Cas jerked his head towards the motel room door. “Showering. I told him he smelled bad and he got offended.”

“He’s got a sensitive ego. You should see him when someone flirts with me and not him; it’s like someone just kicked a kitten.”

Cas chuckled and blew out a stream of smoke. “What do you think is in Kentucky? You didn’t say when you mentioned you found a hunt.”

Sam shrugged. “Haunting, probably. Should be pretty standard. I’m already looking into the history of the house, hopefully get us ahead. When’s your brother and Benny getting back here?”

Cas shrugged and shook his head. “I don’t know. This afternoon, I think. Dri hung up the phone in a hurry when I asked. Said he was tired. Probably spent too much time arguing with Benny last night to get a decent night’s sleep.”

“Think they’ll eventually manage to get along?”

“Probably not. Dri can hold grudges for decades if he wants too. Benny would have to jump through a lot of hoops to get on his good side.”

Dean walked out of the motel room then, hair still damp and sticking out at odd angles. “Breakfast?”

Sam looked at Cas and shrugged. “I could eat.”

Cas nodded, blew out another stream of smoke, and put out his cigarette. “Let’s go.”

“Let’s go somewhere good,” Dean said as they headed towards the car. “Then we can rub it in Benny and Samandriel’s faces that we got better breakfast than them because they took forever to catch up with us.”

“I think Benny, at least, will be able to accept that,” Sam said, unimpressed.

“Dri will be upset enough for both of them,” Cas told them. “Especially if we go somewhere that makes good pancakes. They’re his greatest weakness.”

“Are they now?” Dean asked with a mischievous grin. “I’ll have to keep that in mind.”

“I don’t even want to know where your mind is going right now,” Sam said, with the long suffering air of someone who knows a lost battle when they walk into it. “Whatever you’re planning, leave me out of it.”

“You’re no fun, Sammy,” Dean said with a laugh as he opened the door to the Impala and got in.

Sam and Cas stared at each other for a minute before Sam slowly opened the passenger side door and got in the front seat. Cas got in the back, wondering if there was a way to win himself the front seat without having to resort to the ‘it’s my boyfriend’s car’ card. Of course, Dri would be back with _his_ car in a few hours and it would be a moot point, but still. It was something to keep in mind.

* * *

 

It was after five before Dri and Benny finally pulled into the motel parking lot. Cas couldn’t imagine what the hell had taken them so long to get there, they really hadn’t been that far away. But they were there now, so he supposed it didn’t really matter.

“Well, you don’t look any worse for wear,” Dean told Benny as he and Dri got out of the car.

Benny smiled like he knew something they didn’t. “Yeah, I think I managed pretty well.”

Benny looked over at Dri, and Cas followed his line of vision to see that Dri was looking very intently in the opposite direction and was slowly turning red. Sometimes Dri was very good at hiding his emotions, but he turned red all over when embarrassed, and he was blushing like nothing Cas had ever seen right now. He’d ask about it once no one was around to look on.

“Are we going to head to Kentucky tonight?” Cas asked. “Or wait until morning?”

Dean looked between Sam and Benny. “It’s only a few hours, we could make it tonight. Crash when we got there, get to work first thing in the morning.”

No one had any objections, so Dri tossed Cas the keys to his car, they checked out of the motel, and the five of them went on their way.

“So you and Benny managed to get along for almost a full day by yourselves, huh?” Cas asked about twenty minutes into the drive.

Dri started to turn red again instantaneously. “Uh, yeah. We managed.” His voice was a few octaves higher than normal.

Cas glanced over at him, mildly concerned. “Everything okay?”

Dri tugged at one of his earrings and stared out his window. “Yup. Fine. All good.”

“Dri, I think we’re about to go back to that old argument about which of us is the worst liar.”

“It’s you.”

“I don’t know, I think you’re winning right now.” The blush had spread from Dri’s face to cover most of his neck and ears. He looked like the victim of a bad sunburn.

“I, um… We, well… You sure you want to know?”

Cas looked over at his brother again to see that he was fidgeting even worse than usual. He bit at his nails, pulled at his hair, tugged at his earrings, began again.

“Christ, Dri, is something wrong? Are you in trouble?”

“No! I mean, no. At least I - I don’t think so? Hopefully not?”

“Should I pull over before you tell me what’s going on?”

“That might be a good idea.”

Cas wasn’t sure what he should be bracing himself for. Plenty was crossing his mind; everything from Dri confessing that he’d actually poisoned Benny with dead man’s blood and the vampire would be dead before the next turnoff, to Dri admitting that he’d been the one who had started the kitchen fire that had nearly burnt their house down when they were kids. Cas was actually fairly certain the last one had been Balthazar’s fault, but no one had ever confessed to it, so anything was possible.

Cas pulled over, put the car in park, and directed his full attention to his little brother. “Okay. What is it?”

Dri bit his lip and continued tugging at his earring.

Cas reached over and slapped his hand away from his ear. “You keep doing that you’re going to rip the thing right out of your ear.”

Dri scowled, nerves temporarily forgotten. “I am not.”

“You’re getting dangerously close. Now quit fidgeting and tell me what’s got you so amped up.”

The look on Dri’s face made it clear that there was very little he wouldn’t rather do than tell Cas what was going on, but he took a deep steadying breath and met Cas’ eyes.

“I think - Well, me and Benny are - We’re kind of - Together?” His voice cracked with uncertainty over the word ‘together.’

Cas felt his brain shut down as it attempted to process the words that had just left his brother’s mouth. There were times when he felt confident that there was nothing left for Dri to do that could ever possibly surprise him, but Dri had sent him a curve ball he wouldn’t have seen coming even if someone had warned him about it.

It wasn’t until Dri squirmed in his seat and cleared his throat that Cas realized he’d been staring at him with his mouth hanging open. He shut it with a click of teeth and swallowed. “Oh. I… I see.”

“Really, Cas?” Dri said, accompanied by a nervous chuckle. “That’s all you’ve got for me?” His voice was just a little too high and his words came out just a little too fast for Dri to be as calm as he was trying to appear to be.

“I’m processing, give me a moment.” He tried to fit the idea through his mind for a moment longer, failed, and shook his head before it started to ache. “How long has this been going on?”

Dri pulled at an earring again, though less vigorously than before. “Well, we’ve kinda been dancing around each other since that whole thing with the witches. But neither of us actually did anything about it until last night.”

“Not until… Oh my God, is that why you took so long to get back? You two were-” Cas tossed up his hands, palms out. “Wait, no. Don’t answer that. I don’t want to know. I don’t want to think about it. Oh my God, Dri, you’re- with _Benny_?”

If anything, Dri had managed to get redder. He rubbed the back of his neck. “…Yeah? At least, I think so? It’s complicated. I mean, you know how I get with relationships.”

Cas nodded. He knew all too well how Dri got with relationships. Specifically, how he reacted if they started going bad. “Have you told Benny about Adam?”

Dri shook his head. “No. I - I’m not ready to have that conversation yet. And, I mean, there’s no rush, right? We didn’t even start anything until last night. It’s not like I have to tell him everything right away.” He was shifting uncomfortably, like a bug under a microscope.

“No, of course you don’t,” Cas replied, doing his best to choose his words carefully. “It’s just… Well, Adam sort of had a massive impact on you. You should probably… Really, Dri? Benny? Didn’t you want him dead a month or two ago?”

Dri shrugged. “He’s not so bad. He’s actually really-” He broke off, smiling like he’d lost control of the muscles in his face. He probably would have been blushing, if he hadn’t been so red already.

There was a lot Cas could find wrong with this revelation. First off, his baby brother was dating a vampire. A vampire Cas was friendly with, but that seemed to matter a lot less now than it had when he just wanted the two of them to get along. There was the matter of the massive age difference too, which also seemed like a much bigger deal than ever before. And of course, there was the fact that Cas had already watched Dri go through one horrific heartbreak, and he really didn’t think he could handle watching him go through another.

But Dri looked so damn happy right then. A little uncomfortable, definitely embarrassed, and not entirely certain of himself, but happy. And that was something Cas didn’t see very often. Hardly ever, in fact.

So, despite reservations, Cas forced a smile. “Well, if you’re happy with him, then that’s all that matter right?”

Dri looked at him, and the relief flooding through his face was enough for Cas to know he’d made the right call. “Thanks, Cas.”

Cas gave his brother a good-natured punch to the arm. “What, you thought I was going to tell you to dump his ass or something?”

“Well, it’s just that after I was such a dick about you and Dean…”

Cas shook his head. “Forget about it. It’s all worked out pretty well, right? I have Dean, and now you have… Benny. That’s going to take some getting used to.”

Dri laughed, and it sounded relieved. “Yeah. I’m not really used to it either. But, I think it’ll be okay. You know. Hopefully.” He pulled at his earring, staring at his lap.

Cas gripped his shoulder. “Hey. If it isn’t, I’ll decapitate him for you, how about that?”

Dri smiled. “Thanks.”

“That’s what brother are for, right? I mean, you’d kill Dean if necessary, wouldn’t you?”

“Do I have to wait until it’s necessary?” Dri asked. “And what exactly qualifies as necessary?”

“ _Samandriel._ ”

“What?” The blush was fading from Dri’s face and he was all innocence.

Cas rolled his eyes and started driving again.

* * *

 

“I told Cas,” Dri told Benny when they reached a new motel to stay in for the night. Benny’s eyes widened in surprise, but he didn’t look displeased.

“Told Cas what?” Dean asked, looking at everyone else, seeming put out by the fact that he wasn’t being let in on a secret. He seemed to take slight comfort from the fact that Sam didn’t know either, but he still looked deeply wounded.

Cas hesitated, unsure if Dri was okay with Sam and Dean knowing as well. He looked over at his brother, who was now standing straight, all traces of the nerves he’d had earlier hidden. Dri shrugged and nodded, the picture of nonchalance. But he was tense and his eyes a little wider than usual, letting Cas know he was nowhere near as confident as he looked.

Before Cas could say anything, Benny had moved to Dri’s side, put a hand on the back of his neck, pulled him close, and kissed him. Dri jumped a little in surprise, but when Benny pulled away both of them were smiling.

Benny looked over at Dean, who was now staring at them like they were mutating before his very eyes. Benny grinned. “Sam, I think you’ll probably want to get a room to yourself tonight.”

Sam nodded and sighed. “Yeah. I think that’d be a good idea.”

Benny dragged Dri off to check in.

Dean looked over at Cas, an eyebrow raised. “When did that happen?”

Cas pinched the bridge of his nose. “Last night, apparently.”

“How do you feel about that?”

“My baby brother is dating a vampire.”

Dean laughed. “I guess that’s answer enough, huh? Come on, let’s go get a room.”

Sam trailed along behind them, looking remorseful. “I have to ask for a room on the other side of the building. I swear to God, if they’re as loud as the two of you…”

That was the absolute last thing that Cas wanted to think about, but Dean flashed his brother a grin. “What’s the matter, Sammy? Upset that everyone else is getting more action than you?”

Sam scowled. “I’m upset that now I have two couples to try to get to pay attention to something other than each other.”

“Right, Sam. I’m sure that’s it.”

“Dean, leave your brother be,” Cas reprimanded lightly.

“Yeah, Dean,” Sam said, latching onto the support. “Leave your brother be. And don’t get a room next to his.”

“Why are you talking about yourself in third person?” Dean asked, and then ducked as Sam took a swing at him. Cas rolled his eyes and chuckled. Brothers would always be brothers, he supposed.

Sam, to his apparent delight, did manage to get a room that wasn’t next to either Cas and Dean or Benny and Dri, and as he walked away Cas thought he heard him mutter something about actually getting a decent night’s sleep for once.

Dean grinned and hooked an arm around Cas’ shoulders as they walked towards their room. “We should try to get him some action.”

“Dean, I have no desire to get involved with your brother’s love life.”

“It would be good for him,” Dean insisted. “He never has any fun.”

“I don’t think he’d find your matchmaking skills to be fun. Who would you introduce him to, anyway? You don’t know anyone.”

“I know people,” Dean protested.

“You know other hunters. All of whom Sam knows too and who probably aren’t interested in him anyway. What, are you just going to start throwing him at people in the Roadhouse?”

“Do you think that would work?”

“No, Dean, I don’t think that would work. I think that would be a phenomenally _bad_ idea.”

Dean huffed and opened the door to their room. “I’d help you get _your_ brother laid.”

“I let my brother find his own dates, thanks.”

“And look what he comes home with! A vampire!”

Cas tried not to look too amused. “Isn’t that vampire your best friend?”

“That’s not the point, Cas. You left your brother to his own devices and he came back with something with fangs.”

“Well, our family’s interfered with Dri’s love life before, and it didn’t end well.”

Dean raised an eyebrow, interest piqued. “Yeah? What happened?”

Cas shook his head. “He doesn’t like people knowing about it. It’s a touchy subject. It led to him running away to hunt with me though, so that should give you an idea of how bad it was.”

“What did they do, kill the guy?”

Cas scoffed. “I wish. I offered to kill him, but Dri said he’d rather leave it be. The thought still crosses my mind sometimes though.”

Dean let out a low whistle. “Wow, Cas, wouldn’t have pegged you for the grudge holding type.”

“I’m very protective of Samandriel.”

“Which is very sweet.” Dean draped his arms around Cas’ neck. “Now, come on. Sam went through all that trouble to get a room that wasn’t next to ours, we might as well make use of that, right?”

Cas rolled his eyes, even as he followed Dean to the bed. “As though Sam being next door would have deterred you. You have no boundaries, do you realize that?”

“Boundaries are overrated.”

He and Cas fell onto the bed. They hadn’t bothered to switch on the lights in the room, and they hadn’t paid any mind to their surroundings. Cas thought it was a miracle that they had yet to break anything in one of their motel rooms. Sooner or later, one of them was going to send a lamp or a clock or something crashing to the floor. Cas thought that might be a mood killer, but Dean would probably just laugh and go back to what he was doing. For all that Dean had a lot of baggage that Cas thought desperately needed to be addressed at some point, the man was incredibly carefree. It was exhilarating.

Dean pulled on his hair. “Hey, Cas. Get your brain back down here, would you? I prefer you present.”

Cas smiled and leaned over for a kiss.

* * *

 

The hunt turned out to be one of the easiest Cas had ever experienced, especially with five people working it. By the next night the bones were dusted and they even had time for a late dinner before heading back to the motel.

It was a good thing the hunt had been so uneventful, because Cas’ thoughts had been elsewhere most of the time. In fact, almost all of his attention had been elsewhere. On his brother and said brother’s new boyfriend, to be precise.

They weren’t hanging all over each other, which Cas counted as a blessing. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to repress the instinct telling him to get the vampire the hell away from his brother if they made it obvious that something was going on.

Really, the only difference Cas was able to spot was that they actually spoke directly to each other and made eye contact, rather than behaving as though they were each trying to forget that the other one existed. Cas supposed that was what Dri had meant by him and Benny having been ‘dancing around each other.’ Cas wished they’d found some way to get along that didn’t involve them being quite so close.

It was nice that Dri was happy, of course, but Cas could easily name a few dozen people that he would have preferred Dri take an interest to. Namely, people whose ages were not in the triple digits, who required food to live, had pulses, and didn’t have an ability to sprout fangs.

It was a shame, really. He and Benny had been getting along pretty well, and now Cas was going to have to work out a protective big brother speech that would put the fear of God into a vampire. That was bound to put a damper on their friendship.

It was a conversation that could wait for a few more days though, and the morning after they finished the hunt was being spent in a lazy, unproductive, quiet way - with him and Dean lying in bed, kissing in the afterglow.

Until the phone rang, Michael’s ringtone effectively killing the mood.

Cas huffed, and pulled away from Dean, who was reluctant to let him go.

“Just ignore it, Cas.”

He shook his head. “It’s my brother. He’ll just keep calling until I pick up.”

Dean looked confused. “Your brother’s just down the hall.”

“Not Dri, you idiot. It’s Michael, one of my older brothers. Now let me up.” He grabbed the cell and answered just before it would have sent Michael to voicemail. “What do you want?”

“You know, my dream in life is to call and get a polite hello from one of you,” Michael said dryly.

“Don’t you think your setting your expectations a little too high?” Cas asked, pushing Dean off him and sitting up. Dean pouted at the implication that Cas wasn’t going to be letting him get away with trying anything while he was on the phone.

“I can dream. Is Dri around?”

“He’s not in the room with me, but he’s not far. Do I need to go get him?”

“No, it’s fine. Just checking.”

Cas rolled his eyes. “Honestly, Michael, you act like I’m just going to dump him on the side of the road and leave him to fend for himself.”

“I’m just checking that everything’s okay, Castiel. God knows the two of you wouldn’t call if there was a problem.”

“Did you want something, Michael?” Cas asked, thinking it would be best to get to the root of the conversation before things escalated into an argument.

Michael let out a long sigh filled with what sounded like resignation. “I think there may be a hunt here.”

Cas could have imagined many reasons for his brother to call, but that response was every bit as unexpected as Dri admitting that he and Benny were together.

“What makes you say that?” Cas asked cautiously. “What’s been happening?”

He could hear Michael’s reluctance to talk about it. Whatever was going on, it had to be pretty bad for Michael to be willing to bring Cas and Dri into it. Calling them in on a hunt hardly fit with Michael’s overprotective big brother instincts.

“There’s been some weird killings. Four in the last two weeks. I think…” Michael sighed. “I think they might be demonic.”

Cas swallowed. Dean sat up and looked at him in concern, seeing the shift in body language. Cas held up a hand to silence him before he could ask anything.

“Demons, huh?”

“Yes. There was sulfur residue at the last killing, and the room was apparently locked from the inside. Gabriel, Lucifer, and I have asked around a little, but we don’t exactly have much experience with this sort of thing.”

Cas nodded before remembering that Michael couldn’t see him. “Okay. We can probably head out within the hour. Get there late tomorrow or the next day.” He was already standing up and searching for his clothes.

“Castiel, look, I know this is what you and Samandriel do, but it’s still just the two of you, and-”

“It isn’t just the two of us.”

“What?”

“Dri and I teamed up with a few other hunters a while back. They have some demon killing experience as well. We’ll be fine.”

“You’re not working alone anymore?”

“Not at the moment, no.”

“Well, that’s something at least.”

Cas wondered if Michael would feel as reassured if he knew that one of those hunters was a vampire, and sleeping with Dri. He figured not and decided it would be best for everyone if Benny’s vampire state remained a secret.

“Yeah, they’re helpful. I’ll call you when we’re getting close, alright?”

“Okay. We’ll see the two of you soon.”

“See you soon. Bye, Michael.” Cas hung up the phone.

“A hunt back home?” Dean asked as soon as the phone was back on the table.

Cas nodded. “Demons, apparently.”

“Demons as in demons, or demons as in people trying to summon demons?”

“Demons as in demons, I think. Michael didn’t say much, but it sounded like it’s probably possessing people, killing, and smoking out.”

Dean nodded, and got out of bed to start getting dressed too. “I guess we should round up Sam, Dri, and Benny then, huh?”

Cas smiled weakly. There wasn’t much good news whenever demons were involved in something, but it was reassuring that Dean seemed to have no qualms about coming along to help. “I guess. You get your brother, I’ll get mine.”

Dean nodded. “Works for me.” He grinned. “And then if we’re interrupting Benny and Samandriel, it’s on you.”

Cas groaned and shut his eyes. “Dean, didn’t I ask you to stop making me think about what my brother may be doing when he’s with Benny? That’s a place I don’t want my mind to go.”

Dean pulled his shirt over his head and kissed Cas on the cheek. “I’m sorry.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’m really not.”

Cas thought he might have to reconsider his taste in romantic partners.


	14. Make Them Pay For The Things They Did

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Samandriel must reluctantly admit that telling painful stories can be good for relationships, and if he didn't think his family was dysfunctional before, he sure does now.

“Is it really that shocking that your brother called the two of you?” Benny asked from his place on the bed. “You’re hunters and he trusts you, wouldn’t it make sense to have you come check it out?”

Dri was only half listening. He was seated by the window, looking out at the parking lot but not really seeing it. His fingers drummed relentlessly on the tabletop beside him. It probably took him a few seconds longer to respond than it should have, but he eventually did. “Yeah, it’s shocking. Michael likes to pretend that Cas and I… Well, I don’t know what he actually likes to think we do, but it’s not hunting. He doesn’t approve.”

“Got it,” Benny said, sounding unconcerned. “You going to stare out that window all day, or are you going to come over here? We’ve been driving all day, aren’t you tired of sitting up like that?”

Dri hadn’t spared it much thought. His mind had been pretty elsewhere since Cas had shown up at the door that morning to tell him there was a hunt back home and they should get going. He shrugged. “I’m fine.”

Benny snorted and hopped off the bed. Dri didn’t pay him much mind as he crossed the room, until a large arm encircled his chest and Benny’s voice was in his ear. “I don’t think you were following what I was after there, pigeon.”

Dri looked up into Benny’s face, realization clicking into place. “Oh.”

Benny chuckled and shook his head as he moved to pull Dri out of the chair. “You’re not always real quick on the uptake, are you, angel?”

Dri scowled. “Maybe you should learn to be more direct.”

Benny tugged him to the bed. “I’m helping you improve at nonverbal cues.”

Dri elbowed him lightly in the ribs. “You’re an ass, and you think with your dick too much.”

Somehow, Benny managed to get them both onto bed with Benny’s back against the headboard and Samandriel in between his legs, back to his chest. “God, you’re a grouch. Where did that attitude come from?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Dri told him, trying not to admit to himself just how comfortable he found the position.

Benny nuzzled behind one of his ears and Dri had to fight back the urge to giggle. If Benny figured out he was ticklish… Well, Samandriel didn’t like thinking about it. Benny had too easy of a time getting responses out of him already. “Liar. Come on, angel, your brother’s nice enough, if a little bizarre. Why are you so grumpy all the time?”

“I’ve got reasons.”

“Like what?” Before Dri was sure of what was going on, Benny had flipped them both over and pinned Samandriel on his back and their noses were brushing against each other. “Bad boyfriend?”

The grimace went across Samandriel’s face before he could stop it, and Benny pulled back and away with a sudden look of concern. “Really?”

Samandriel struggled to sit up and inched his way back to put some more distance between them. He looked down at his hands and started idly tracing the lines of a snake tattoo that decorated the inside of his left wrist in an effort to pretend Benny wasn’t there anymore. “I guess he’d be part of it. Adam was a dick.”

Benny looked concerned. “What did he do? Bastard cheat on you? I’m willing to help you get revenge, if you want.”

Samandriel smiled weakly in an attempt at reassurance, but it dropped off his face almost instantly. “No, he didn’t cheat on me. Not that what he did was any better.”

Benny’s concern seemed to grow. “He didn’t hit you or anything like that, did he?”

Dri shook his head. “No. We got into shoving matches once or twice, but we never hurt each other and I always gave as good as I got. It wasn’t a big deal.”

“As bad as cheating, but not cheating or fistfights, huh? Not much fits into that category. You want to talk about it?”

“No.”

Benny smiled at him fondly. “Liar. You want to vent about it, I can see it in your face. Come on, you can tell me. I promise to be appropriately angry and threaten to eat him whenever you’d like.”

“Benny…”

“Samandriel…”

The two of them glared half-heartedly at each other for a minute before Benny sighed and shook his head. “Look, angel, if you really don’t want to tell me, that’s fine. But if you want to tell me, I’m here for you. You know that, right?”

Samandriel nodded before he realized what he was doing. “I guess.”

“You guess? That’s all I get?” Benny teased, nudging Dri’s leg.

Dri rolled his eyes. “You ass.”

“You don’t get to talk.” Benny leaned forward and Dri tilted his head to allow a kiss. “Come here.”

Dri sighed with relief, glad that Benny wasn’t going to press the issue of Adam for the moment, and the two of them maneuvered so Dri was once more between Benny’s legs, back against his chest. He sighed deeply and let his head fall back to rest on Benny’s shoulder. This was nice, he reflected. Not something he and Adam had done much. The two of them had mostly made out, slept together, fought, and made up. Repeat.

Benny nuzzled the back of his neck gently. Dri felt the now familiar scrape of beard against his skin and smiled softly. The peaceful mood didn’t last long. Without permission, Dri’s mind drifted back to thoughts of going home, and his stomach lurched unpleasantly as it occurred to him that there was a pretty good chance Adam was going to come up while they were there. His breath caught in his throat for a moment.

“Angel? You all right?”

Dri screwed his eyes shut and willed the second of panic to go away. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. Just… Talking about Adam dragged up some stuff I thought I was over, and then I realized I’m probably going to run into him while I’m home, or you are, or someone’s going to bring him up, and-”

Benny took Dri’s right hand in his own and laced their fingers together. “Easy, Samandriel. Just breathe, you’ll be alright.”

Dri nodded, the movement almost frantic. “Yeah. Yeah, I know, I’ll be fine. I just thought I way finally getting over some of this crap.”

Benny kissed his ear. “Doesn’t seem like something you just get over, angel, not if you don’t talk about it. And I know you well enough by now to know you probably didn’t.”

“I talked to Cas.”

“Did you really talk to Cas, or did you just tell him enough to shut him up?”

Dri was quiet. Benny was far too observant where Samandriel was concerned.

“Adam was a bastard,” Dri said at last, quietly.

“I guessed that much. I’m willing to kill him without any explanations,” Benny offered helpfully.

Dri laughed despite himself. “Lucifer might get mad about that. Adam’s his best employee.”

“God, that sounded bitter.”

“Did it? My control is slipping.”

The arm around Dri’s waist tightened, but Benny stayed quiet.

Samandriel sighed, somehow feeling more pressured to talk now than he had while Benny was questioning him. It was easier when he couldn’t see Benny’s face, at least. “Lucifer’s a bastard too.”

“Well, if his name is Lucifer, I feel like he wouldn’t have had much hope.”

Benny’s tone was light, clearly trying for a joke, but Dri didn’t feel any better. He blurted out his next sentence before he realized he was going to say it. “Lucifer was paying Adam to date me.”

The silence Benny responded with felt like a punch to the gut. “He - What?”

Dri forced his way up and off the bed. Benny let him go without protest. “You heard me. I’m going to get a beer.”

He stepped up to the room’s little fridge and grabbed a bottle he’d put in there when they’d first arrived, pointedly not looking in Benny’s direction. A hand appeared on his arm after the first swig and he turned to see that Benny had followed him up.

“Your only other serious relationship was with a guy being paid to date you?”

Dri shrugged and took another drink, doing his best to appear nonchalant. “Yeah, pretty much. Guess I’ve got bad taste. First a douchebag, then a vampire.”

He didn’t see Benny moving, but suddenly the vampire’s mouth was over his own, the beer bottle was being taken from his hand and set aside, and there was a wall pressed against his back. Dri brought his hands up, cupping one around the back of Benny’s neck, the other one winding through his hair. Benny’s hands were on his waist and in his hair and Dri kept pushing forward, deepening the kiss until his mouth was aching and Benny had to be having trouble breathing, but he didn’t care.

Dri had to gasp for oxygen when they finally pulled apart, and even then he didn’t tighten the grip he now had on Benny’s shirt, keeping him close.

“What was that?” he asked once he’d caught his breath some.

Benny cupped his cheek with one hand and tilted his head up. “Is that why you started hunting? To get away from him?”

“Yeah. Him and Lucifer. Plus, I didn’t want to hear whatever bullshit Michael had to say that would mean I should try to fix it, and…” Dri shrugged one shoulder. “Cas has always been the closest friend I have. I figured he’d make for better company.”

Dri leaned up to kiss Benny, but he moved his head away, then softly chuckled at the look on Dri’s face.

“You’re pouting.”

“Am not.”

“Yes, you are.” Benny kissed him once, slow and sweet, then rested their foreheads against each other. “I’m not sure which of them I should be angrier at.”

Dri shrugged, brought his arms up, and put them over Benny’s shoulders. “I’ve spent two years trying to decide that. It’d be one thing if Lucifer had at least apologized for it or something, but he still insists he was just looking out for me.”

“How the hell is paying someone to date you looking out for you?”

“Apparently, it was a horror that his eighteen year old gay baby brother was still a virgin.”

Benny pulled back far enough to look Dri in the eye. “Your first time was with a guy doing it for the money?”

Dri looked down at the carpet, which was a weird shade of blue, with red threads mixed in. “Yeah. And my second. And my third. Adam and I had a lot of sex, when we weren’t fighting with each other.”

Benny handed Dri back his beer and pulled him back to the bed, where they sat down next to each other, backs against the headboard. “You two fought a lot?”

Dri nodded. “All the time. I was always willing to work it out. I mean, he was attractive, and we were a pretty good match when we weren’t losing our tempers, and that’s what your supposed to do when you have a boyfriend, isn’t it? Give second chances? Except for then it turned out that the real reason we were fighting was that he didn’t actually want to be with me, and all the good times were just an act, and-” Dri had to cut himself off. His voice was rising in pitch, and he thought he might be about to cry. He wasn’t ready to cry in front of Benny.

Benny put an arm around his shoulders and pulled him close. Dri took a swig of his beer before resting his head on Benny’s chest. Benny kissed the top of his head, and Dri couldn’t help his smile.

“You’re sweet,” he said after another drink. It came out carefully, considering, both words specifically selected and analyzed.

“That a good thing?”

Dri kept quiet for a moment, twirling the beer bottle between his hands. “Yeah. Sweet’s good. I’ve never had sweet. I don’t - I’m not the sort of person people are sweet towards.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Dri shrugged, staring at the bottle. “I’ve never had much in the way of friends. Only boyfriend was doing it as a part-time job. I don’t get flirted with, I’m lousy at conversations. Sweet isn’t usually present.” He looked up at Benny. “You’re different. Which is weird. You wouldn’t think the bloodsucking abomination would be the sweet one.”

Benny scowled. “We’re not back to calling me an abomination, are we?”

Dri shifted around to make himself more comfortable, which mostly consisted of finding the angle at which Benny made for the best pillow. “It was strictly for demonstration purposes, I promise.”

Benny ran his fingers through Dri’s hair and the hunter shut his eyes with a quiet hum. “What are the chances of running into this Adam guy while you’re home?”

“It depends on whether or not we go to The Pit. He’s almost always there, so as long as we steer clear we shouldn’t run into him, except maybe at a gas station or something. But Lucifer lets hunters hang out in the back room at The Pit so he can keep tabs on me and Cas through gossip, so we may have to go there to ask questions.”

“Not you though. There’s five of us, no need for you to have to see the guy.” There was a thoughtful pause. “Or me, for that matter. I get protective, angel, I don’t think you’ve had a real opportunity to learn that yet. I should probably avoid your brother too.”

“It might be best for you to avoid my family entirely. If they find out you're a vampire, they’ll probably kill you on the spot. And then kill me and Cas for speaking to you. For not being hunters, they sure have a lot of opinions on hunter related stuff.”

“Pigeon, I think you’re being a bit hypocritical there. Not like you had a more positive reaction to finding out.”

“I didn’t immediately go for a kill.”

“You wanted to.”

“Yes, but I _didn’t_. That’s all that matters, right?”

“I think intent’s a pretty big thing, pigeon. If Dean and Sam hadn’t been around, you wouldn’t have hesitated.”

“Well, don’t take it personally. I mean, something grows fangs and has no pulse, it’s only reasonable to assume it’s probably not something you want running around, you know?”

“It didn’t occur to you that if I’d wanted to eat you I’d have done it by then?”

“I don’t put a lot of thought into the motives of vampires, to be honest.”

Benny laughed, reached out, and plucked the now empty beer bottle out of Dri’s hands, and put it aside. “You know, I did have an ulterior motive when I first got you into this bed.”

Dri grinned. “That’s right, you did, didn’t you?”

* * *

 

For the first time in Dri’s memory, they got motel rooms when they pulled into town instead of going home. It made sense, of course, what with them being there for a hunt and having three extra people along, but it was still strange.

Cas and Dri still went to the house to talk to Michael.

“Where are the other hunters you mentioned?” Michael asked almost immediately after they’d arrived.

“They’re back at the motel,” Cas told him. “They’re looking into the news about the killings, and then they’re going to talk to the police and some witnesses.”

Michael looked suspicious and Dri rolled his eyes. “For fuck’s sake, Michael, don’t look at us like that. We’re not making them up, we just didn’t think there was a point in dragging them all over here.”

“Afraid we’d scare them off?” Gabriel asked as a way of announcing himself, bouncing into the room and giving both his younger brothers affectionate punches to the arm.

“You probably would have done something terrible to them,” Cas said seriously. “They’re much more useful to us if they’re in one piece and conscious.”

Gabriel grinned, unabashed and unashamed. “Are they hot?”

Dri hoped he wasn’t going to start blushing. “Do you honestly care, Gabriel? I know you, you’ll hit anything with two legs.”

“I take serious offense to that, baby bro. I’d be perfectly fine with them only having one leg. Or no legs. If they want to go bed with me, who am I to deny them the simple pleasures in life?”

“You’re a fine example of an upstanding citizen, Gabriel. Always thinking of the good of the people.”

“I try.” Gabriel grinned at them triumphantly, and continued on out the front door.

Michael looked exasperated, and Dri imagined that he could feel his hair turning gray. “Anyway, do you guys need anything?”

Cas shook his head. “I don’t think so. The killings are brutal, but overall it’s looking like a typical demon job. We just have to find and exorcise it, and we’ll be done. We may stop by The Pit though, to see if any hunters know anything.”

Michael nodded. “I’ll let Lucifer know. Those hunters you’re with, they know what they’re doing?”

“They’re very good,” Cas reassured him.

Dri snorted. “Make up your mind, would you Michael? First you’re worried that we’re hunting by ourselves, now we’re not and you’re worried about that too? It’s no wonder you think you worry too much, you worry about everything.”

Michael swatted the side of his head, the way he had when Dri was little and had a problem with talking back. It hadn’t helped much then either. “Shut up, Samandriel,” he said, not altogether unfondly. “I don’t know these guys, and the two of you don’t have the greatest taste in people. You could have hooked up with anybody, I don’t know.”

Which was a good thing, Dri thought to himself. Especially considering that they’d hooked up with them in multiple senses of the word. Add in that one was a vampire, and one was pretty obnoxious at times - Dri liked Dean well enough, but that wasn’t a point he was willing to concede on - and the idea of Michael and the rest of the Novaks meeting them just sounded like a recipe for disaster.

“They’re good,” Cas repeated. “They’ve been hunting most of their lives, and they have plenty of experience with demons. We’ll be fine.”

Michael didn’t look happy, but he rarely did. “Okay. Keep me in the loop, would you? You’re hunting right around the corner, I think you can manage to stop by occasionally.”

“We will,” Cas promised, starting to edge towards the door. “We should get to work. The sooner we stop this thing, the better. People are dying.”

Michael nodded. “Yeah, go. I’ll see you soon. I do expect to meet your hunter friends though.”

“Michael, you sound like a worried mother, has anyone ever told you that?” Dri asked.

Michael just glared.

“That went better than I’d feared,” Cas said once they were back in the car.

Dri nodded. “Calmest I’ve seen Michael in years. Now, so long as he doesn’t find out that Benny’s a vampire and Dean doesn’t give him a reason to shoot him, we should be alright.”

“What do you mean ‘so long as Dean doesn’t give him a reason to shoot him?’”

“Think about it, Cas. Can you really see Dean and Michael getting along? At all?”

Cas looked thoughtful for a moment and then nodded. “You may have a point.”

“I _know_ I have a point.” Dri fell quiet for a minute. “You’re not actually planning on the two of us going to The Pit, are you?”

“ _I_ might,” Cas told him, “but I’m not going to make you come along, if that’s what you’re worried about. Have you told Benny about Adam yet?”

Dri nodded. “Told him last night.”

Cas glanced over at him, but Dri purposefully didn’t take the cue to elaborate. “How’d he respond?”

Dri smiled despite himself, feeling like a blushing schoolgirl. “He was really sweet. Threatened to kill Adam viciously if I wanted him to.”

Cas laughed. “Dri, if your definition of ‘sweet’ involves death threats we might need to have a talk.”

“Hey, you threatened to kill him too.”

“You didn’t say I was _sweet_ for it.”

“You’re my older brother, Cas. I expect you to threaten to kill people for me on a regular basis. It’s practically your job.”

“I didn’t agree to that.”

“Should have read the terms and conditions; it’s too late to get out of it now.”

If they hadn’t been in the car, Cas probably would have thrown something at him.

They returned to the motel, barging into Sam’s room unannounced. Dean and Benny were there already, looking over police reports while Sam typed away at his laptop.

“Your brother have anything helpful to say?” Dean asked.

“Not really,” Cas replied. “Nothing we didn’t already know, at least. Have you three found anything?”

“List of the victims and where they were killed.” Dean held up the papers. “Sam’s looking for demonic signs in the area, and Benny’s got the witness statements.”

Dri took half the papers from Benny and sat down next to him, Cas took some of Dean’s and went to help Sam. The five of them flipped through papers without speaking for a few minutes, until there was a forceful knock on the room door.

They all looked up at the door, then at each other, wondering if perhaps someone knew something they hadn’t bothered to share with the group.

“Did somebody order take out or something?” Dean asked.

Everyone shook their heads, and Sam eased his way out of his chair and towards the door, picking up his gun as he went. Dri’s hand went to one of his knives, and he could see everyone else readying a weapon as well. It always paid to be paranoid.

The door opened and Sam didn’t immediately raise his gun, but he didn’t lose any tension either. “Who the hell are you?”

“Michael Novak. Are my brothers in here?”

Dri and Cas exchanged looks. It figured, Dri supposed. They should have expected that Michael wasn’t really going to let their new hunting partners off the hook that easily.

Sam looked over his shoulder at them, questioning.

Cas sighed and moved to his side. “Come on in then.”

Dri resisted the urge to curse when Michael was followed by Lucifer, Gabriel, and Balthazar. “What, Anna didn’t want to join the party?”

“Oh, I’m here,” Anna chimed in from the doorway. “I just didn’t feel the need to menacingly lurk in the doorframe while I waited for an invitation.” She stepped into the motel room, holding every bit as much superiority and authority as their brothers, despite being so much less physically intimidating.

Cas sighed and sat down beside Dri. “Well, get on with it then.”

“Get on with what?” Dean asked, looking between Cas and Dri and the rest of the Novaks.

Cas waved a hand at their older siblings. “They’re here to make sure we didn’t make a terrible mistake in judgment by teaming up with you three.”

Dean looked Michael up and down appraisingly. “Well, it’s a good thing I’m so charming then.”

Dri rolled his eyes. “Charming. Yeah, that’s the word.”

Cas nudged him in the ribs, hard. Dri rubbed at his side and scowled at his brother. Cas ignored him to address Michael. “Honestly, Michael? We aren’t teenagers on first dates.”

“Well, maybe if those first dates had shown that you had better taste we wouldn’t be here today.”

Dri got to his feet, scowling. “That was uncalled for.”

“Well, you have to admit that neither of you are going to be winning awards for taste,” Balthazar said with an easy grin.

He didn’t know the full story about Adam, barely even knew anything about Meg, but Dri was still ready to hit him. “Shut the fuck up, Balthazar.”

Balthazar looked taken aback. “Christ, what’s your problem?”

“Oddly enough, it’s the same problem we always have,” Cas answered. “That you all insist on treating us like children who are incapable of making their own choices.”

“Your choices aren’t exactly upstanding, Castiel,” Michael told him haughtily. “Rotten girlfriend, who made rotten choices, and led you down the exact path we all swore we weren’t going to take.”

“I was a toddler when Mom died and Dad left, Michael. I don’t remember doing a whole lot of swearing. And don’t you dare bring Meg into this like that.”

“Why shouldn’t I? She’s what started all this. I told you not to get involved with that bitch, and if you hadn’t-” Michael’s tirade was cut off by Castiel’s fist meeting his jawbone.

“Castiel!” Lucifer shouted, and that was the last clear thing Samandriel heard before Michael hit Cas right back and the motel room became a mess of flying punches and curse words.

Samandriel tackled Lucifer when he moved to haul Cas off Michael, and the two of them toppled to the ground. Dri felt his back hit someone’s legs and then there was someone falling on top of them. He swung a punch and it hit someone, but something hit his shoulder and shoved him down to carpet and he couldn’t tell who it was.

An arm hooked around Dri’s waist some indeterminate amount of time later and hauled him to his feet. “Not exactly a great impression we’re making on your brothers here, angel,” Benny said, sounding annoyed. “You want to help me break it up before someone has to go to the hospital?”

Dri thought it was a pretty fucked up world where the vampire was the voice of reason. He and Cas must have stepped into some sort of Twilight Zone universe when they met him.

He yanked his arm out of Benny’s hold, scowling. “Fine.”

Their method of breaking up the fight - which now consisted of eight people throwing aimless punches while trying to get off the floor of the motel room - wasn’t much more peaceful than the fight itself, but it was effective in getting everyone away from their targets. Within a few minutes a slightly more disheveled group of people was standing around the room, all glaring at each other.

Dri huffed and looked towards Cas. “Well, that went well.”

Cas didn’t respond. Dean had a hand resting on Cas’ arm. He wasn’t holding it, but Dri didn’t doubt that he’d pull Cas back if necessary. Cas was visibly fuming, angrier than Dri could remember ever seeing him.

“I think you should go, Michael,” Dri said, voice low.

“Oh, you’re giving the orders now, Samandriel?” Michael hadn’t won the fight yet, and Michael wasn’t one for leaving fights before he’d won them.

“Wasn’t an order. Just a suggestion. That crossed a line, Michael, and you know it. I think you should get going before Castiel hits you again.”

Michael glared at him for a long moment, until it took every ounce of self-control Dri had ever possessed to break eye contact and start backing up.

Michael looked away at last, moving the glare to Benny, who maintained eye contact but didn’t stand up straighter or make any aggressive movements. Then to Sam, who returned the glare but also didn’t move. Then finally to Dean, who straightened himself up and visibly tensed, more than willing to go a few rounds with him.

Michael turned and strode out of the room without another word. Lucifer managed to glare at all of them at once and swept out after him.

Balthazar, Anna, and Gabriel shuffled awkwardly in place, exchanging glances between themselves before looking sheepishly at Dri and Cas.

“Sorry?” Gabriel offered weakly.

“That’s the best you’ve got?” Sam asked. “A half-assed apology?”

Gabriel turned to face Sam directly, paused, and made a point of craning his neck back to look Sam in the face. “Well, hello there, gigantor. How’s the weather up there?”

Sam rolled his eyes. “Yeah, never heard that one before.”

“We are sorry, guys,” Anna, ever the voice of reason, said. She elbowed Gabriel in the ribs as a silent command to quit pestering Sam before he could start. “That wasn’t supposed to get out of hand like that.”

“We know, Anna,” Cas said, and he sounded tired. “But please leave? We have work to do.”

Anna bit her lip and glanced between her brothers. “Alright.” She pointed a stern finger at Dri. “You, don’t let him do anything stupid, okay?” With the exception of Dri, Anna probably knew the most about Meg. She was easier to talk to than the rest of the Novaks. She knew how much Cas was hurting from Michael prodding at the wound.

Dri nodded. “Of course.” If he hadn’t been concerned about Cas already, he would have been once Cas didn’t insist that he was fine. Cas didn’t say anything at all, just moved to sit on the edge of one of the beds. Dri watched him, frowning, barely looking up to wave goodbye at his older siblings as they filed out.

Sam shut the door more forcefully than might have been necessary. “Charming family you guys have.”

Dri sighed. “Some days are better than others.”

Benny gave the closed door a pointed look. “Well, I can’t imagine you’ve had a whole lot of days that are worse.”

“It doesn’t usually turn into a fist fight, no.”

“Cas, you okay?” Dean asked, sitting next to him on the bed.

Dri gave one earring a tug when Cas didn’t respond, trying to decide what to do. Dean looked up at him, questioning. Dri sighed. “I think maybe you should talk to him.” He looked at Cas for any signs of protest, but there weren’t even any signs that he’d heard. “And the three of us should give them some privacy.” He gestured to Sam and Benny and led the way out of the motel room.


	15. If You're Troubled and Hurt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cas tries not to think about things that upset him, with varying success.

Cas stared at the motel room’s carpet, only dimly registering that there were voices speaking to him. The carpet was a gross combination of off-green and a suspicious shade of brown. Whoever had picked it out deserved to be fired and forced to spend the rest of their life without luxuries that came in multiple colors.

When he finally started to consider returning himself to reality, the first thing he registered was that there was a hand rubbing calm circles on his back. He turned his head to see Dean, watching him with concern. He did his best to give him a reassuring smile.

Dean grinned insincerely. “Cas, you’re really bad at pretending you’re okay when you’re not, you know that?”

“My brother has mentioned it a time or two,” Cas admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. “How long ago did everyone leave?”

“Just a few minutes. Dri said you needed some space, but he thought I should talk to you. How are you feeling?”

Cas shrugged. “I’m okay. Just a little rattled, I guess. Michael’s said a lot of nasty things while angry before, but he’s never-” He broke off, closing his eyes and biting his tongue, just hard enough to hurt.

“I’m guessing this is about… Meg?”

Cas nodded, staring at the hideous carpet rather than Dean. “Yeah. It’s been four years, but it’s still not a subject I like to talk about.”

“I get it. Hell, my mom died twenty-six years ago, I still don’t want to talk about it. Your brother was out of line.”

Cas breathed a sigh of relief he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. It was reassuring to know that Dean didn’t feel threatened by it, or that he was somehow entitled to know what had happened to Meg. “Thank you, Dean.”

“No problem.”

They were both quiet for a minute or two, Cas still looking at the carpet.

“I thought I was going to marry her,” Cas said at last, not entirely certain why he was saying it.

Dean was quiet, and when Cas finally forced himself to look over, Dean was just sitting there, calmly waiting.

“She always laughed and said I needed to slow down a little, she wasn’t looking to get married and have kids and a house and everything else, not for a long time. I didn’t care though. I’d have done whatever she wanted. I was going to marry her, and we were going to be happy.” Cas chuckled. “She used to call me Clarence, like from _'It’s A Wonderful Life._ ’” Cas paused. “You know, I never even watched that movie until after she died? She referenced it all the time, but I never watched it until after she died. I never watched it with her.”

Dean knocked their shoulders together. “You always think there’s going to be more time, right? I always thought that with my dad; that there’d be more time. That we’d be able to talk about whatever shit we needed to. Just… Later. Always later.”

“And then there wasn’t any more later,” Cas finished.

Dean nodded. “And then there wasn’t any more later,” he agreed. Another few minutes passed quietly, both of them looking at the floor now. Cas’ hand had somehow ended up on top of Dean’s.

“What happened to Meg? If you don’t mind talking about it, anyway. I’m not going to force you. I get that it’s not a real fun topic.”

“That’s putting it mildly.” Cas sighed. “Meg was incredible. She was smart, and funny, and she wasn’t afraid of anything. She thought she was invincible.”

Gabriel had used to joke that Meg was going to give Cas a heart attack someday. She’d dragged him through haunted houses on more than one occasion, the kind that, as a hunter, he now told stupid kids like that to stay out of. She’d shoved him onto every roller coaster they’d ever come across. She’d gotten them lost in the woods on purpose just for the hell of it. _‘It’s an adventure, Clarence,’_ she always told him. _‘Isn’t a little risk worth it for an adventure?’_

Cas realized he’d spaced out and stopped talking for a few minutes. He was fairly certain Dean had asked him something, but he couldn’t begin to guess at what it was. “Sorry,” he told him. “Just remembering.”

Dean nodded his understanding and waited.

“I don’t know what she was thinking,” Cas said. “I never got to ask. I don’t know if she needed something, or if it was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or if she’d just thought it be fun. But she got involved with… With the wrong people.”

“The wrong people being…?” Dean prompted when Cas didn’t elaborate.

Cas smiled ruefully. “Demons, of course. What else?”

“Oh.”

That was all Dean said, and, really, what else was there? They both knew there was really no good response to being told something like that.

“I knew what had done it right away, of course,” Cas continued. “We all knew the signs for stuff like that. We learned so that we could avoid it, ironically enough. I argued with Michael about it for a few minutes, realized I wasn’t going to get any support from my family, waited until everyone was asleep, then grabbed a few guns, Dad’s old journal, and took off.”

“You found them, I’m guessing? The demons?”

Cas nodded. “Took me about a year. And by then… Well, you know how hunting is. Once you start, it’s hard to stop. Nobody just quits the life. It doesn’t happen.”

Dean nodded. “Yeah, I know.” He looked towards the motel room door and sighed. “Sam tried to get out. The demon who killed our mom killed his girlfriend, just to get him back in the game.”

The two of them sat in silence for several minutes. Cas wasn’t sure what else to say. What were you supposed to say as a follow-up to the story about your dead girlfriend?

“We should get back to work,” was all Cas could think of. “We still have a demon to get rid of.”

Cas got to his feet and Dean followed suit. “Are you sure? You were pretty out of it a minute ago.”

“I’m fine, Dean. I promise. It’s not like - It’s been four years, Dean. I’m okay. I just wasn’t expecting Michael to bring it up like that.”

It wasn’t a complete lie, Cas told himself as he reached for his computer to try and get back to work while Dean stepped out to find Benny and their brothers. It _had_ been four years, and Cas _had_ dealt with it. Mostly. So long as he didn’t think about it too much.

So long as he didn’t let himself remember how the room had looked when he’d found her. She’d been late meeting him for dinner and he’d gone looking for her. It hadn’t taken him long. He’d found her, blood everywhere, the smell of sulfur enough to make him gag, scorch marks on the floor, and a summoning circle that had been broken painted onto the floor.

Michael had once told him it was lucky there had clearly been several of them, or else the police probably would have arrested Cas. If he hadn’t been in shock at the time, Michael probably would have gotten punched.

Cas bit his tongue, hoping the pain might ground him, and tried to focus. He was fine. Hell, for the most part he was even _happy_. Today was just a bad day, that was all. Michael had rubbed salt in a wound, Cas would be fine by tomorrow.

* * *

 

_Sulfur. Blood. A stream of smoke escaping out a cracked window. Laughter with no source. Meg. Meg. **Meg.**_

Cas woke up with a start, involuntarily holding his breath. His heart was thudding faster than was natural for anyone not being chased.

The nightmare wasn’t exactly new, but he hadn’t had it for months. Maybe even a year. He wasn’t sure. He tried not to think about it too much.

Cas tried to roll over, only to find that the weight he had originally attributed to being a side effect of his dream was, in fact, his boyfriend’s arm.

Cas focused on steadying his breathing, wondering if it would be possible for him to get up and go outside for a cigarette without waking Dean. Half the time, the man slept like a hibernating bear. The other half he woke up if a mouse sneezed three blocks away. Which one he was going to do at any given time was a coin toss.

Cautiously, Cas squirmed his way out from under Dean’s arm and out of the bed. He nearly fell onto the floor, but Dean didn’t wake up, so he counted the endeavor as a success. Dean mumbled in his sleep and went still again, taking up the majority of the mattress. Cas rolled his eyes and dug through his duffel bag for his lighter. Dean sprawled out in his sleep, which usually landed him right on top of Cas. It wasn’t even cuddling. Cas wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but he was certain that cuddling wasn’t supposed to involve feeling like your organs might be squished because your boyfriend can’t tell the difference between a mattress and a human being.

Cas slipped out the motel room door, wincing when it creaked. He stepped around the corner, so that if Dean woke up and followed him out he wouldn’t walk into a cloud of cigarette smoke.

He nearly collided with Samandriel and Benny, the latter of which had the former shoved up against a wall.

Cas made a noise he wasn’t proud of. Benny heard him, jumped away, and Dri fell over, apparently having been primarily held up by Benny.

Cas wasn’t sure which of them was going redder.

“…Sorry?” he offered, not sure how he felt about turning a corner at five in the morning to see _that_.

Benny offered Dri a hand and hauled him to his feet. “Sorry, angel.”

Dri waved him off. “What are you doing out here, Cas?”

Cas held up the lighter and pack of cigarettes like they were white flags. “Smoking? Or I was going to, anyway. What are _you_ doing out here?”

“What did it look like?” Dri retorted, clearly at least a little annoyed at having his make out session interrupted.

“No, I mean, I know what you were _doing_ \- not that that’s something I want to think about, in case you were wondering - I was mostly wondering why you were doing it _out here._ ”

“Hadn’t made it to the bedroom yet.”

Benny cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable. “I’m going to… Go.” He was out of sight in seconds.

Dri watched him go, face covered in fond amusement. It was a little sickening, really, but Cas was happy for him. He still wished it wasn’t a vampire, but getting Dri to look happy was a difficult enough task that Cas figured he had better not go looking gift horses in the mouth.

“Dri, it’s five in the morning. How long does it take you to walk two doors down to a motel room?”

Dri shrugged, apparently largely unfazed by his older brother walking in on him and his boyfriend. Irritated, maybe, but certainly not very embarrassed by it. “Wasn’t tired last night. We went for a walk.”

“And you didn’t get back until now?”

“Benny’s more talkative at night.”

“That a vampire thing?”

“Probably. I’ve kind of given up trying to figure him out though. He’s fucking weird.”

“You - _you_ \- have given up on trying to figure somebody out? And you’re still willing to be in that person’s vicinity? Christ, Dri, you have it _bad_.”

Dri scowled. “Oh, shut up, Cas. It’s not like you're any better. I give it six months, at best, before you’re making Dean talk to wedding planners.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Samandriel. Hunters don’t get married, there’s too much paperwork involved.”

“Apartment shopping then. Or cars. You’ll probably argue about cars the way most couples argue about what to name their children.”

Cas rolled his eyes and finally pulled a cigarette out of the pack. “Leave me alone, would you? Go back to your boyfriend or something. You looked like you were enjoying each other’s company. And for God’s sake, get some sleep before we start tracking down demons.”

“Get back to my boyfriend, get some sleep…” Dri said even as he started walking away. “You’ll have to pick one Cas, because I don’t think there’s time for both.”

Cas sputtered for a moment and Dri left laughing.

Cas had barely been around Dri while he was dating Adam, so it had never really registered that Dri was actually remarkably crass about his sex life when he was comfortable and happy. It was a good sign, Cas supposed, but as an older brother who was used to his baby brother being, well, being his baby brother, it was horrifying.

Cas shook his head and lit his cigarette. He let the smoke out in a long, slow breath and sighed. He’d really been hoping that he’d managed to put all of his baggage about Meg away. She’d probably have kicked his ass if she could see him. He was lucky she hadn’t decided to stick around and haunt his ass - something she’d threatened to do on more than one occasion, should he ever be an idiot. She’d probably have liked Dean too. Or hated him, which, for Meg, wasn’t actually all that different. Cas and Meg had known each other since they were little, and Cas had spent a good portion of the fifth grade thinking Meg was secretly planning on murdering him. When he’d finally had the nerve to confess it to her, she had reassured him that should she ever want to kill him, she wouldn’t keep it a secret. Cas had found that oddly reassuring.

He smoked the cigarette slowly, watching the sun rise over the tops of the buildings, glaring off the gleaming surface of the cars in the motel parking lot. He’d be fine, he told himself over and over again. He’d taken care of himself this far, he could go right on doing it. Another day or two missing her and they’d leave town and Cas would be able to put Meg back into the far corner of his mind that he only rarely visited.

Dean was being supportive about it, at least, which was a relief. Cas had been concerned he might be the type to get jealous over exes. He certainly got jealous enough over anyone who had the audacity to check Cas out in a bar or something. But nothing like that had happened with Meg.

The sun was heating up the concrete under his feet when Cas finally ground out his cigarette and went back to bed.

* * *

 

“You sure you’re alright, Cas?”

Cas paused in washing his face to shoot Dean a withering look via the mirror. “Dean, I promise my answer has not changed since you asked five minutes ago. Or fifteen minutes ago. Or twenty-five.”

“Yeah, well, I’m worried, okay? You were pretty shaken up yesterday.”

Cas ignored him and started drying off.

“You don’t have to come with us on this, you know,” Dean continued. “It’s looking like it’s just the one demon, the four of us can handle it. Simple exorcism stuff.”

“I’m not staying behind, Dean. I’m _fine_.”

“No, I know you are, I just-”

 _“Dean._ ”

“Sorry.”

Cas sighed, walked over, and kissed Dean’s cheek. “I appreciate the thought, alright? But I’m fine. Now, come on, we have a demon trap to set up.”

Dean shrugged, and instead of moving he put his hands on Cas’ hips. “Well, so long as you’re sure.” He didn’t give Cas a chance to respond before he was kissing him.

Not that Cas minded. Kissing Dean was a _much_ better pastime than arguing with him or thinking about depressing things from the past.

Distantly, Cas heard the sound of a door opening.

“Oh, for God’s sake, you guys too?”

Dean and Cas pulled apart and turned to face Sam, standing in the doorway, looking as though he was about ready to give up on everything in life.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Dean retorted, slinging an arm around Cas’ shoulders.

Sam shook his head and walked back out of the room again, muttering something under his breath.

Cas and Dean looked at each other, grinned, and followed him.

Dri and Benny were already waiting by the cars, looking immensely pleased with themselves about something. They looked at Sam’s face and smiled wider.

“He walk in on you guys too?” Dri asked.

“You need to learn to knock, Sam,” Benny said, mockingly helpful.

Sam moved towards the passenger side door of the Impala. “Never used to be a problem. Come on. You four may have been too preoccupied to notice, but we do have a job to do.”

Dean nudged Cas in the ribs before they began moving towards their respective cars. “We have to get him laid.”

“Please don’t,” Sam groaned.

Dean laughed and got in the car.

Cas got in his own car and followed the Impala out of the parking lot.

“Do you and Benny just enjoy getting caught then?” Cas asked a few minutes later.

Dri chuckled. “Not our fault that Sam doesn’t knock.”

“And this morning?”

“Cas, the sun wasn’t even up yet. We weren’t exactly concerned about an audience.”

Cas gave his brother a hard, appraising look for as long as could be allowed while driving.

“What?”

“It’s just… You are a lot more confident about Benny the last few days.”

Dri shrugged. “I’ve felt better the last few days. I think telling him about Adam was good for me.”

“Suddenly all my efforts to make you feel better seem trivial. I didn’t get this good of results.”

“You got me to start eating again. And be moderately less pissed off at the world. That’s a result, right?”

“Still. I haven’t seen you in this good of a mood since… Well, honestly I can’t remember the last time you were ever in this good of a mood.”

“Well, Castiel, I’m afraid there are some things Benny can do for me that you just can’t.” Dri paused for a moment. “Well, I guess you _could_ , but it’d be creepy and we really shouldn’t go there.”

“For fuck’s sake, Dri,” Cas stammered out, trying not to laugh.

Dri just grinned, straightened up a little in his seat, and looked out the window like he didn’t have the faintest idea what he’d just said.

“You’re feeling really proud of yourself for that one, aren’t you?” Cas asked.

“Maybe just a little,” Dri admitted. “But come on, you walked right into it.”

“No, that was this morning. And it’s a sight I’m hoping to never seeing again. Try to keep it inside the bedroom, would you?”

“No fun, Castiel.”

“Samandriel, please. For the sake of my sanity. And my older brother instincts, which still haven’t gotten over the fact that he’s a vampire.”

“Are you saying that if you see Benny kissing me again you’re going to cut his head off?”

“Well, I might not jump straight to killing him, but someone might get hit. And I’m not going to promise it won’t be you.”

“Alright, alright. Benny and I’ll cut down on the PDA - if you and Dean do too.”

“Excuse you, Dean and I do not flaunt our sex life in public.”

“Does Dean know that?”

Cas tried to think up a retort, failed, and sighed in defeat. “No, I’m afraid I’m having difficulty getting through to him about it.”

Dri laughed triumphantly and Cas proceeded to make a point of ignoring him for the rest of the drive.

Upon closer inspection the day before, the demon’s choice of victims and locations had proven to be less random than originally thought. Sam had managed to convince the woman it was going after next to leave town for the day - how he’d done that, Cas was almost afraid to ask - so when the demon showed up looking for her, it’d run smack into five hunters instead.

Cas figured it would be an easy hunt, provided that - knock on wood - all went according to plan. Or at least followed something that vaguely resembled the plan in some way. They could improvise if they needed to. Really, as long as the thing showed up, they were going to send it’s ass packing back to Hell.

“We’ve got what, a little over an hour?” Dri asked as they started kicking up rugs and laying down demon traps.

Sam began unloading holy water from his bag and placing it at strategic locations around the apartment they had just broken into. “If this thing sticks to it’s pattern, yeah.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

“Then we’re probably fucked,” Dean answered casually.

“He’s not one for planning for the worst case scenario, is he?” Dri asked, looking at Benny.

Benny grinned at him. “No, he just figures if he yells and runs at it enough it’ll eventually stop moving.”

“Wonderful strategy,” Dri replied dryly.

“Christ, now they’re gossiping behind our backs,” Dean said, looking to Cas for support.

“Technically,” Cas began, beginning to smile at the look on Dean’s face as he realized Cas was going to be more obnoxious than helpful, “they’re gossiping in front of our faces. They aren’t making any effort to hide the fact that they’re making fun of you.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “As if living with my little brother wasn’t annoying enough…”

“Do _not_ drag me into this,” Sam shouted from where he was working in the next room.

“Really, Sammy? _You’re_ not even going to come to my defense?”

“No.”

Dean huffed. “I’m going to spend the rest of my life pretending not to know any of you.”

“I imagine that’s going to make your and Cas’ relationship a little awkward,” Dri said, the picture of innocence.

“It will,” Benny agreed. “Every time will be the first time. That’s awful.”

“You people are terrible,” Sam interjected, stomping back through the room.

“You’d think you’d be used to it by now, Sam,” Benny said.

“It’s gotten worse now that there are _couples_ involved.”

“Congratulations, Sam, you’ve become one of those people who can make the word ‘couples’ sound like a curse word. You’re practically a crazy old cat lady at the age of twenty-six!”

“Shut up, Dean.”

They finished painting the symbols, checked that they had everything, and sat down to wait.

That was always the worst part, Cas thought. The waiting. Once he was ready to fight he wanted to go on and fight well he was prepared for it. Waiting made him anxious, distracted. He pulled the demon-knife he’d picked up a few years ago from his belt and started fiddling with it.

Dri glanced over at him. “Are we going to exorcise it or kill it?”

“Exorcism, if whoever it’s possessing might still be alive. Otherwise, might as well make sure it doesn’t come back, right?”

Samandriel nodded and they fell back to quietly staring around the apartment. They hadn’t turned on any lights, in case the owner had told someone she was leaving for a few days and someone got suspicious, so the place was eerie. They’d lit a few candles, but most of the light came from street lamps outside. It was the scene of a bad movie that made the audience yell at the screen for the characters to quit being dumbasses before they got themselves killed.

Cas reminded himself that they were all much better prepared than those dumbasses. And they knew what was coming, which gave them the advantage.

The candles went out.

Everyone was on their feet a second later, tense and ready. Cas held the demon knife in his right hand, tightening his grip on it. Dean and Sam had their guns drawn, even though they wouldn’t do any good against a demon. Not that the knives Samandriel was holding were any better. Benny looked to have been the only one to put forth enough thought to pick up a container of holy water.

Cas took a deep breath and let it out slowly, eyes scanning back and forth across the room.

When the demon finally made it’s move, it didn’t waste any time in getting down to business.

The first glimpse Cas caught of it was when it materialized in front of him in the body of a man in his twenties, grabbed him by the collar, and threw him against a wall. Sharp pain lanced through his skull as it collided with the wall of the kitchen before he fell and crashed through the table.

Someone - Dean, he thought? - shouted his name, and there was the sound of a gunshot. Cas’ ears started ringing. He shifted and pieces of the broken table fell off him and clattered to the floor. Something snarled.

Cas hauled himself to his feet with a groan. His entire back was going to be a bruise tomorrow, and he needed an ice pack the way Dean often insisted he needed pie. A quick glance around his feet showed the knife to be nowhere in sight and a glance across the room showed that the demon was holding it’s own against the other four, so Cas lunged across the kitchen, ignoring the resulting throb in his head. He fumbled in the dark for a second before picking up the holy water.

Cas leapt over the back of the couch, landing just a few feet behind the demon, which had just hurled Dean and Dri across the room and was trying to hold off Benny while keeping Sam pinned to the floor.

It didn’t see Cas coming until after he’d upended the container all over its face and it lurched back and away, howling. Benny took advantage of it’s preoccupation to shove it directly into the devil’s trap it had been so skillfully avoiding up until then.

All in all, Cas was fairly certain the whole thing had taken less than a minute. A painful minute to be sure, as when he turned to check on Dean and Dri his back made an extremely unpleasant protest, but that was all.

“Everyone okay?” he asked.

Dri and Dean both nodded, struggling to their feet, making a point of not looking to the other one for help. “Just hurry up and exorcise the damn thing, would you?” Dri said.

Cas nodded, but Sam was speaking before he could even turn back around.

“Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus…”

The demon snapped and snarled and threatened them with every torture under the sun for when it got loose, but none of them even raised an eyebrow at it.

“Well, that went well,” Dri commented once the demon smoke had cleared from the room and the man it had been possessing crumpled to the ground.

Sam gave a wry chuckle and rubbed the back of his neck. “If that’s things going well I think we should reconsider hunting with you two.”

“What, you didn’t think that was a success, Sam?” Cas winced as he bent over in the kitchen, looking for where his knife had gone.

“My version of success doesn’t involve being thrown across rooms,” Sam retorted.

“Well, nobody’s dead,” Benny said supportively. “So Samandriel’s right. It went well.”

Dri looked smug.

Sam rolled his eyes. “You know, Benny, I’m used to Dean being obnoxious about his dating habits. Not that he usually sticks to one person long enough for it to be dating, but you know what I mean. But you… Benny, I really thought this wasn’t going to be an issue you and I would ever have.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, brother,” Benny said easily. He slung an arm around Dri’s shoulders and delivered an exaggerated kiss to his cheek. Dri snickered.

Cas found his knife, half hidden underneath the hutch, which now held several broken dishes. “Come on. We need to get out of here before one of the neighbors calls the police about all that noise.”

Dean stepped over to the devil’s trap and checked the man for a pulse. “He’s still alive. I’ll call an ambulance in the parking lot, just in case no one heard us.”

Cas nodded and slowly led the way out of the apartment, wincing every few steps.

By the time they reached the parking lot Dean was watching him with some concern. “You okay, Cas?”

“I’m fine. I was just knocked around a little.” Cas dug through his jacket pockets for his keys, but he’d barely pulled them out before Dri grabbed them out of his hand.

“You probably have a concussion, Cas. And you’ve always been very clear about how you feel about people driving with concussions.”

Cas scowled, but there was no way to argue with Dri without sounding like a total hypocrite. And, objectively, he was right.

Dean looped an arm around Cas’ waist and tugged him close. Cas winced as he pressed against a freshly forming bruise. “Don’t you worry about your big brother, Samandriel. I’ll take him back to the motel myself, and I’ll take good care of him.”

“I’m sure you will,” Dri said dryly. “And I’m sure I’ll be grateful that our rooms don’t share a wall.” He turned on his heel, took Benny by the arm, and strode towards Cas’ car. “We’ll see you guys tomorrow. Dean, make sure you get Cas an icepack and make him take it easy or I swear to God I will hunt you down.”

“Because he’ll be so hard to track down, right, angel?”

“Shut up, Benny.”

Cas chuckled, watching them go. “Idiots.”

“I know,” Dean agrees. “Aren’t you glad that we aren’t like them?” He didn’t wait for Cas to answer before he kissed him.

“Christ,” Sam muttered, just loud enough for Cas to hear. “There’s no getting away from it, is there?”

Dean grinned. “Sorry, Sammy.”

“No, you’re not.”

The grin widened. “No. I’m not.”


	16. They're Gonna Give You A Smirk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Samandriel finally has to make a trip to the Pit, and Adam maybe isn’t at the top of the douchebag list anymore. He’s still on it though.

“No fucking way. Not going to happen.” Samandriel crossed his arms over his chest and stared Cas dead in the eye. Some of the impact might have been lost by the fact that Cas was still lying in bed looking unimpressed, but Dri wasn’t going to let that slow him down.

Cas sighed. “Please? It’ll take you maybe thirty seconds, at most. You’ll be in and out before anyone but Uriel even knows your there.”

“Why don’t you do it?”

“Because every bone in my body hurts like I got run over by a semi-truck, that’s why. Fuck, Dri, I’m asking you to drop off one of our police reports to one of our friends, not go on a quest for the Holy Grail or something.”

“Now, see, _that_ I might agree to do. Go to the Pit? Much lower chance. Why doesn’t he just come to us?”

Cas rolled his eyes, and Dri wasn’t certain if the action was directed at himself or Uriel. “Because it’s _Uriel_ and he likes to be difficult about this sort of thing. Now are you going to go, or are you going to make me call him so he can start planning some sort of long-winded revenge against us for bailing on him? Because I’m not getting out of this bed today.”

Dri glared for another few seconds to fully get across just how much Cas owed him for this, then grabbed the file Uriel had asked them for and stormed back to his own room.

“What’d your brother want?” Benny asked when he returned.

Dri held up the folder. “A hunter friend of ours is working a job, thinks one of the files we got for the demon hunt might help him out. He’s weird though, so he wants one of us to take it to him personally.”

“Let me guess - Cas’ injuries have made you delivery boy?”

“Yeah. Nothing like having things he doesn’t want to do to make Cas take it easy when he’s hurt.”

“What’s the big deal? You seem oddly pissed off if all you’ve got to do is give a friend of yours a folder.”

Dri sulked for a moment. “He wants me to meet him at my brother’s bar. And Uriel isn’t a guy to take no for an answer. He’s not really so much a friend as an acquaintance we don’t want to piss off.”

“Your brother’s bar?”

“Yeah. The Pit.” Dri pinched the bridge of his nose. “The one where Adam is a bartender.”

Benny was quiet for a minute before quietly saying, “Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“And Cas knows?”

“Yeah, he knows. He just kept saying that I could get in, drop it off, and get out again.” Dri threw himself onto the bed at Benny’s side. “And, I mean, I guess he’s probably right. But _still_.”

“I could come with you. You know, if you want.”

Dri propped himself up on his elbows and twisted to observe Benny’s face. “Really?”

“Sure. Why not?”

“It is a _hunter_ bar, you know.”

“As long as no one shakes my hand, I should be fine. Fooled you and Cas for awhile, didn’t I?”

“You really want to come with me and watch me try to avoid my dickbag ex-boyfriend?”

“Honestly, I’d rather you didn’t go at all. But if you’re going, I’m willing to come along. Moral support, right?”

Samandriel stared at him for a moment. He still wasn’t used to that; the way Benny always just _offered_ whatever he thought would make Dri happy. He didn’t even wait for a hint that Dri might not be happy in the first place. It was bizarre.

Adam hadn’t been like that at all. Dri could have stopped into Adam’s apartment, swearing enough to horrify a sailor, and broken a television set, and Adam would never have thought to ask if he was alright. Benny probably would have asked before he finished getting through the doorway.

Benny was either an exceptional example of human compassion - despite not actually being human - or else Dri had even worse taste in guys than he’d originally thought.

He wasn’t certain about this though. If there was one thing he’d learned from Gabriel and Balthazar it was that current partners meeting ex-partners never ended well. On the other hand, Benny was an immortal monster that could probably tear Adam to shreds before he had any idea what was happening.

“I’d appreciate that,” he offered lamely at last. It wasn’t fair, how much better with words Benny was than him. Benny could fill hours with words when he chose to, and every single one of them meant the whole damn universe, even if Benny was only using them to fill a stretch of silence or distract Samandriel from something. Dri could barely hold a real conversation without sounding like an idiot. “I’m not really expecting anything to happen, but… I'd really appreciate it. You know, just in case.”

“Sure thing, angel. Although, I feel like I should point out that avoiding something this much can’t be healthy.”

“I’ve never been a terrifically psychologically healthy person, Benny. I’m a _hunter_.”

“You say that like it’s an explanation.”

“Nothing about hunting is healthy, Benny. There’s a reason it doesn’t show up on those career assessment tests they give you in high school.”

“Those what?”

“Tests they give teenagers to tell them what kind of career they should think about having.”

“Yeah? What’d yours say?”

“Don’t know. Dropped out before I could take it.”

“What do you think you’d like to do? If you weren’t a hunter?”

Dri shrugged. “Don’t know. Never really had an interest in anything else. I don’t exactly have a ton of talents outside of killing things.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

“The faith is touching, but unfounded.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

“Alright then, what do _you_ think I’d do?”

Benny looked thoughtful for a minute. “Be a florist.”

Dri stared at him for a moment. “You had better be kidding.”

“What? You don’t want to be surrounded by pretty flowers all day? They’d make you smell good.”

“You saying I stink?”

“Well, it’s not exactly roses, now is it, angel?”

“You had better watch your mouth, Lafitte.”

“Is that so?” Benny grinned and leaned over to kiss him. “When are we leaving for the Pit?”

“Uriel will be there in about three hours.”

Benny maneuvered so he was straddling Samandriel on the bed and pinned his arms to the mattress on either side of his head. “Good. Plenty of time.”

Samandriel rolled his eyes even as he struggled to lean up for a kiss without the use of his arms. “You’re insatiable.”

“At my age? I have to take advantage of my opportunities while they last.”

Samandriel smiled. “At least you age well, right?”

“Immortality has to have _some_ perks, pigeon. Otherwise no one would do it.”

If Dri’s hands had been free he would have retaliated about the nickname again. It didn’t matter that it had now become a word of endearment and Dri actually kind of liked it; it was the principle of the thing. He couldn’t let it go just because he and Benny were a couple now. He had integrity.

He doubted it would have made any sort of difference anyway. Benny started kissing him again, long, slow, and deep. It made Dri dizzy and he wasn’t sure if it was his emotions, the lack of oxygen, or the sudden decrease of blood flow to his brain.

Benny released one of his arms to start working on getting Dri’s jacket off.

* * *

 

The Pit wasn’t some seedy bar in a back alley somewhere, but it still wasn’t the sort of place many people would feel comfortable walking into without backup.

The lighting was dim and tinted red. Most of the tables were at least partially hidden from view because of the positions of the lights, done intentionally so that any non-hunters walking through wouldn’t pass a table covered in pictures of victims of mutilation and call the police. Gabriel had once said it looked like a good place for a rave. Another time, he’d called it a good place for a murder. Rock music played through the bar, loud enough to provide cover for private conversations, but not so loud that they had to shout to be heard.

“Classy place,” Benny commented as they walked in the door.

“Oh, this is nothing. I’ll have to take you the candy shop sometime.”

“It’s a strip club, angel. I think I can imagine.”

“I doubt it. No one does strip clubs quite like Gabriel. Come on, Uriel said he was at a table in the back.”

Dri led the way through the bar, keeping his head down. He hadn’t checked to see if Adam was behind the bar, but he figured it’d be best to keep from drawing attention to himself regardless. He didn’t really want to run into Lucifer either. He was probably still pissed off about their last fight.

Uriel was at a booth, tucked away in a corner that was so poorly lit Dri almost didn’t realize there was someone sitting in it.

“Samandriel,” he greeted with a short nod. His gaze lingered on Benny. “Where’s your brother?”

“Getting some sleep. A demon threw him through a table the other day.”

Uriel nodded, still watching Benny. “And your friend?”

“Guy we’ve hunting with.” He shoved the folder in Uriel’s direction. “Here’s the police reports you wanted.”

Uriel nodded and took it and Samandriel turned to leave, Benny falling in step beside him.

They passed the back of the bar and a hand caught Samandriel’s arm at the elbow. He whipped around, breaking free of the person’s grip and his hand instinctively going to his hip. Behind him, Benny let out a low, warning growl and Dri had to hope that he’d kept his head enough to not let his fangs slip. They were probably in the worst possible place for that to happen.

“Sorry.” Adam Milligan was standing in front of Dri, hands up, palms out. “I didn’t think you’d stop if I called out to you.”

Dri glared at him. “You thought right.” He moved to start heading out again. Nobody in the bar had leapt to their feet, so he assumed Benny’s secret was still safe.

“Samandriel.”

Dri ignored him and kept walking.

“Samandriel! Would you hold on just a minute?”

Dri paused and looked over his shoulder. “Why the fuck would I do that?”

“Just… Thirty seconds. Please.”

Dri hesitated and glanced at Benny. He was frowning, and had clearly worked out who Adam was, but he shrugged.

Sometimes he was _too_ supportive, Dri thought.

He considered for a moment, glaring Adam down, but his ex didn’t twitch. He did look nervous though, which was out of character for Adam.

“Fine. Thirty seconds. And I’m counting.”

Adam’s face lit up. “Great! And… Privately?” He glanced pointedly at Benny.

Dri frowned.

“Please? Just over there.” Adam gestured towards the back of the bar, where there weren’t currently any customers or employees.

Dri glanced at Benny again, who was mostly standing there looking vaguely threatening.

“ _Fine._ But you’re down to twenty seconds.” He followed Adam the few feet he wanted to keep them from being eavesdropped on. “What do you want? What could you possibly have to say to me?” he demanded once they’d stopped moving.

“That I’m sorry?”

Dri had no idea what he’d been expecting from Adam, but that certainly hadn’t made the list. “What?”

Adam sighed and looked down at his feet. “I’m sorry, Samandriel. For… Well, for everything, I guess. For lying to you, for accepting Lucifer’s offer to pay me to date you, for how I treated you while we were… together…” He winced. “For how I told you the truth…”

Samandriel remembered that all too well. The truth had come out during a particularly brutal screaming match between them. The words _‘I’m only_ _doing this for the money and I’m starting to wonder if there’s enough of that in the world to make spending time with you worth it,’_ had rang in Dri’s ears for weeks.

“Anyway,” Adam continued on, “I just wanted to say I’m sorry. I would have sooner, but, you know, you’re not really around much.”

Dri nodded, unsure of how to respond.

Adam swallowed and shifted his weight back and forth for a minute. “So, um…” He gestured towards Benny. “Is that your boyfriend?”

Dri started a little. “What? How did you-?”

“He keeps looking at me like he wants to serve me up on a plate. I’m guessing he knows?”

Dri nodded slowly. “Yeah, he does.”

Adam nodded, looking uncomfortable. “Well, he looks like he’s a lot better for you than I was. Not that he could have been much worse, I guess. But… He makes you happy?”

Dri gave another slow nod. “Yeah.”

“That’s good. I’m glad you found someone. Someone who’s not a dick.”

Samandriel, mentally reeling a bit, watched Adam for another minute before turning to see Benny watching him. He looked like he was trying to decide whether or not this was a good time to intervene. Dri, a little bit not-all-there at the moment, briefly considered dragging him outside for hot, I’m-so-glad-I’m-dating-you-and-not-that-douchebag fueled sex, before he decided that that was probably only hot in the movies. Alleys were gross. Besides however much bigger than him Benny was, holding Dri up for that didn’t sound like it would be very pleasant for either of them.

“Yeah,” Dri repeated. “Yeah, I guess things worked out okay.”

Adam nodded again, bit his lip, and wrung his hands together. “Yeah. Well, that was it. I just wanted to apologize. I’m not really expecting you to forgive me or anything, but I thought I owed you that much, at least. You know? You deserved to know that I’m aware that I was a dick and you have every right to punch me.”

“Don’t tempt me,” Dri warned.

Adam smiled weakly, and Dri chose not to tell him that he hadn’t been kidding. Breaking Adam’s nose would probably be therapeutic. Might get him into trouble, but it would be worth it.

He managed to resist the temptation.

“Thanks, Adam,” he said, and it was mostly sincere. “I appreciate it.”

They stood there, trying to avoid eye contact with each other, for a few more moments before Adam cleared his throat and gestured to the bar. “I guess I should go get back to work, before your brother comes in.”

“Good thinking. Bye, Adam.”

Dri returned to Benny’s side. His limbs felt odd; too heavy and distant to belong to him. His mind was hazy. “That was weird,” was all he managed to say.

“Him apologizing? Yeah, wasn’t really something I was expecting after everything you’d told me.”

Dri smiled faintly. Damn superior vampire hearing. “I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone or something.”

Benny shrugged as they left the Pit and stepped out onto the street. “It’s been two years. Maybe he’s grown up a little.”

“For the sake of his future relationships, I hope so.”

Benny slung an arm around his shoulders and kissed his cheek. “At least he had the balls to tell you he knows he was wrong.”

“Yeah. That’s the shocking part.” Dri twisted his neck to look over his shoulder at the bar. He still couldn’t quite believe that had just happened. “Even if Adam _knew_ he was wrong, I wouldn’t have expected him to _admit_ it. I always thought he was too proud for that.”

“People are surprising sometimes,” Benny commented.

Dri nodded agreement. “Yeah, I guess so. I’m still not forgiving him though.”

Benny laughed. “Who said you had to? I’m just amazed you didn’t knock him out.”

“I thought about it,” Dri admitted. “Figured we probably didn’t want to get into a bar fight.”

“Who’s this ‘we’?”

“What, you’ll bite a guy for me, no questions asked, but you wouldn’t come to my rescue in a bar fight?”

“It’s your brother’s bar, I think you’d have been okay.”

“You’re so supportive. I’m touched, really.”

“I do my best,” Benny said with as much seriousness as he could muster.

They both started grinning at each other three seconds later and Dri let Benny hold his hand.

“You want to go find something to eat, pigeon?” Benny asked. “You didn’t have dinner.”

Dri snorted. “You sound like my brother.”

Benny moved like he was going to drop Samandriel’s hand, but he was grinning too hard for Dri to believe it. “Fine. I try to offer you something nice, take you out on a real date, and this is the thanks I get. I see how it is.”

Dri raised an eyebrow. “A real date? Is that what you were offering?”

“It could be.”

Dri smiled hard enough to make his cheeks hurt and leaned up to kiss Benny. “I like the sound of that.”

* * *

 

It was seven forty the next morning when somebody started pounding on Benny and Samandriel’s motel room door like they were trying to break it down.

Dri responded by shoving his head under the pillow. This was no easy feat, as Benny’s arm was lying across the pillow, and so Dri was burying himself under the weight of that too. He managed though, made a grumbling whining sort of noise, and attempted to fall back asleep.

Benny, on the other hand, had been woken up when Dri displaced his arm and promptly began to glare at the door, as though the heat of his stare would transfer his irritation through the wood and to the person on the other side.

It didn’t work, and the culprit continued right on banging on the door.

“Christ,” Benny grumbled, hauling himself off the bed and reaching for a pair of pants. Dri made a disgruntled noise and moved his arms so he could pin the pillow over his ears.

Benny pulled on a pair of sweats and moved to answer the door, still shirtless and barefoot and not caring in the least. If whoever was on the other side of the door was going to be offended by his shirtlessness they should have thought about that before waking him up. They were lucky he’d bothered with pants.

From the bed, Dri tilted the pillow a little so he could watch. He hoped whoever it was would go away quickly, the bed was cold now that Benny had gotten up.

Benny pulled the door open with an unnecessary amount of force, then froze.

Dri sat up, trying to see what was going on.

“Hi,” Benny greeted, sounding uncertain.

“…Hi,” the other person replied, and Dri blanched as he recognized the voice.

“Is my brother here? The front desk said this was the room rented to him.”

Benny looked over at Samandriel, eyes a little wider than usual.

Michael didn’t wait for a reply and pushed past Benny into the room.

“Samandriel.”

“Michael.” Dri was suddenly acutely aware of the fact that he wasn’t wearing anything. He silently thanked God that it had been cool enough last night that he was actually under blankets.

Benny crossed his arms over his chest and looked out of place and uncomfortable. Michael looked between the two of them.

“How long has this been going on?”

“Um… A little while? Why?” Dri was floundering a little. He usually got more warning before he had to deal with Michael, or at least was better rested.

Michael sighed. “Never mind. Where’s Castiel?”

“In the other room? I guess?”

Michael looked between Benny and Dri again. “What does he think of this?”

“He mostly minds his own business.” Michael glared at him and Dri gulped. This was not a comfortable situation to be in. At all. “Did you, uh, did you need something, Michael?”

Michael sighed. “Just find Cas and meet me in the parking lot, would you? I need to talk to the two of you.” He glared at Benny. “ _Just_ the two of you.”

“Okay,” Dri answered, his voice small. Michael strode out of the room, and Dri realized the loud pounding noise he’d been hearing was his heart.

Benny waited until Michael shut the door behind him before he turned back to look at Dri. “I’m suddenly very grateful he doesn’t know I’m a vampire.”

“I did warn you about them.” Dri reached for some clothes. “Christ, I’d forgotten how terrifying he is when he catches you off guard. That hasn’t happened in a while. Years, in fact. Although there was the one time he walked in on me and Adam. Of course, that time I think he was just happy I wasn’t sitting around by myself, because he always used to worry about that, so he didn’t actually blow up that time, he just-”

Benny gave him a quick kiss to shut him up. “You babble when you’re nervous.”

Dri nodded. “Yeah, I know. I just don’t get nervous much. Michael has that affect on people. I’m either nervous or aggressive, and I was not sufficiently prepared to be aggressive. God, at least Cas will get some warning, the lucky bastard.”

“What do you think he wants?”

“No clue,” Dri replied pulling on his sneakers. “But I shouldn’t keep him waiting. Whatever he wants, I doubt it involves him spending half an hour of his morning in a motel parking lot.”

“That seems unlikely, yes,” Benny agreed. “I… I’ll stay here, I suppose.”

“That would probably be best. If I don’t come back, my brother dumped my body in a ravine somewhere. Don’t avenge me, it’s not worth it.”

Benny snorted. “I’m going back to bed. Wake me up if you need anything.”

“Yep.” Dri bolted out the motel room door and around the corner.

“Cas!” he shouted through the door as he knocked. “Cas, get up, Michael wants us.”

Cas shouted something through the door that was too muffled for Dri to make out, but it sounded like it rhymed with ‘cough.’

“Cas! He already barged into my room unannounced, so unless you want me to tell him to do the same thing to you, get your ass out here.”

Dri waited for a minute, and the door creaked open at last to reveal a groggy looking Cas. His shirt was on backwards, his hair was a mess, his jeans were wrinkled, he was only wearing one sock, and his shoes were untied, but he was up and fully dressed, which was enough for Dri.

“Come on, let’s go see what our brother wants and go back to bed.”

Cas yawned in reply and trudged after him.

Michael was waiting for them, drumming his fingers on the roof of his car. “Do you two always sleep this late?” he asked as soon as they were close enough for him to not need to shout.

Cas stopped in his tracks and blinked at Michael for a moment. “If you’re going to be nasty, I’m going back to bed.”

Dri, who had regained some of his balance and was now slightly more prepared to deal with Michael, nodded. “I second that. We basically work night shifts, Michael. It’s not like we’re staying in bed for sixteen hours or something.”

Much to Dri’s surprise, Michael didn’t roll his eyes, argue, or sneer at them. Instead, he sighed, looked down at his hands, then back up at them. He seemed almost… nervous? It was the strangest thing Dri had ever seen, and he suddenly felt supremely uncomfortable. Michael not being one-hundred percent sure of himself was against the laws of the universe itself.

“I guess I owe the two of you an apology.”

For a moment, Dri thought his legs would give out on him and he would end up sitting in a heap on the pavement.

Cas just stared.

Michael waited, then, impatiently and sounding much more like himself, said, “Well? Aren’t you going to tell me to continue?”

“Actually,” Cas said, “I was wondering if I should go get the holy water.”

“This would be the most polite demonic possession in history,” Dri said.

“It’s a trap.”

Michael glared at them. “If you two are done…”

“Nope, it’s him,” Dri said.

Cas shook his head. “Sorry, Michael. You were saying?”

Michael huffed. He seemed much more in his element now, and for all that Dri was frequently intimidated by his older brother, he felt much more comfortable with Michael like this than how he had been a moment ago. “I was _saying_ that I was sorry. Am sorry. What I said the other day was uncalled for. I don’t appreciate how you reacted-” he glared at Cas, as though he couldn’t figure out that Michael was talking about being sucker punched in the jaw “-but I shouldn’t have said it.”

When Dri looked towards Cas his brother seemed to be having some difficulty processing what Michael was saying. It was too early in the morning to deal with Michael acting like an actual human being. Dri knocked their shoulders together and Cas jumped.

“Oh. Um. Th-Thank you? I mean, I’m sorry I hit you. And thank you for apologizing. That’s… That’s big of you, Michael.”

Michael gave a haughty nod. “Well, _someone_ in this family has to behave like an adult.”

Somehow, Dri refrained from commenting.

“Anyway.” Michael hit the roof of his car with one hand and started to reach for the door handle. “ _That’s_ out of the way. So, you two come over for dinner tomorrow night. Bring your hunter friends with you.” He fixed Dri with a hard stare. “ _Especially_ the one who answered your door.”

Dri’s face started to heat up. He cleared his throat and looked down at his feet. Faintly, he heard Cas stifle a giggle and made a mental note to punch him for it later.

Michael didn’t give them a chance to accept, decline, or in any way respond to his order. He just got in his car and peeled out of the parking lot.

Once he was out of sight, Cas and Dri exchanged confused looks.

“…That did just happen, right?” Cas asked, pointing in the direction Michael’s car had gone. “I’m not dreaming? Or hallucinating?”

Dri punched Cas in the upper arm hard enough to hurt.

“Ow!” Cas jumped away, bringing his fists up reflexively. “What the hell was that?”

“Checking if you were dreaming. And getting revenge for you laughing at me.”

Cas chuckled. “Did Benny answer the door naked or something?”

“Shirtless. And that room only has one bed, so…”

“So thank God he doesn’t know about Benny’s habit of sprouting fangs.”

“Jesus, Castiel, you make it sound like chain smoking or something.”

Cas just smiled wider. “God, if someone had told me a few months ago that you’d be coming to the defense of a vampire I’d have exorcised them on the spot. And yet, here we are, with you getting caught in bed with one.”

Dri could tell from the heat in his ears that he was bright red by now, which was probably just encouraging Cas. “We weren’t caught in bed together.”

“Dri, Michael’s a grown man. I’m sure he can work out for himself what his extremely homosexual and socially awkward baby brother was doing sharing a bed with another man.”

“Castiel, if you don’t shut up you’re not going to be able to go to dinner tomorrow. You’ll be suffering from a sudden lack of teeth.”

“Such violence, Samandriel. I thought we raised you better than that.”

Dri scoffed. “Whose family are you thinking of? Because I’m pretty sure it’s not ours.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“That my earliest memory is of Gabriel leaping off the top of a playground slide and landing on top of Lucifer.”

“And that’s a sign of aggression, is it?”

“Cas, Gabriel was _seventeen_. You can’t exactly put it up to childhood stupidity.”

“It was Gabriel. Yes, we can.” Cas looked towards the road again. “How long do you think this truce will last?”

“Through tomorrow night, hopefully. You?”

“A month, at best.”

“That’s awful optimistic. We live through tomorrow, I don’t give it more than two weeks.”

“I did say _best_.”

“That you did.” Dri gave his brother a friendly pat on the back and turned back towards the motel. “I’m going back to bed.”

“Now that actually sounds like a pleasant way to spend the morning.”

Dri wrinkled his nose. “Cas, I don’t need to know what you’re planning on doing when you get back to your boyfriend.”

Cas made a disgusted face. “Just because that’s where _your_ mind went-”

He was cut off when Sam made a sudden appearance. “Hey, guys. You’re up early.”

“Not for much longer,” Cas informed him.

“We had to talk to our brother,” Dri explained. “You’re invited to dinner with us tomorrow night, by the way.”

“Don’t think ‘invited’ means it’s optional.”

Sam laughed and nodded. “Okay then.”

It finally registered in Dri’s mind that Sam was wearing tennis shoes, gym shorts, and a workout top. “What are you doing?”

“Going for a jog. Want to join me?”

“Yuck. No thanks.”

“Don’t knock it until you try it, Dri,” Cas told him. “If I ever manage to get a good night’s sleep I might join you, Sam.”

“Just let me know.” Sam took off.

Dri shook his head. “We’ve made some really fucking weird friends in the last few months, Cas, you realize that?”

“You’re dating a vampire, but the man who goes jogging is what finally weirds you out?”

“Shut up. When did you become the one to point out that he’s a vampire at every opportunity?”

“When you stopped doing it and I noticed a void in the conversation. Don’t want you to forget that you’re sleeping with someone you could eat you, Dri. I’m just looking out for your best interests.”

“Of course you are.”

“Honestly! Samandriel, would I lie to you?”

“You’re my older brother, Cas. Of course you’d lie to me.”

Cas clutched his chest. “That hurts Dri. It does.”

Dri rolled his eyes. “Go back to bed, you weirdo. The lack of sleep is making you loopy.”

Cas yawned instead of saying goodbye.


	17. Boys And Girls In The Clique

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam is the only one not getting laid, and it’s really getting out of hand.

Sam supposed he should have guessed it from watching Cas and Dri interact, but the Novak family was fucking weird. And he’d found out how many of them there were when they all showed up unannounced at the motel and started a fight, but it hadn’t really registered. Now he was sitting on a couch in a stranger’s living room and he was pretty sure one of the Novaks whose name he hadn’t caught was planning to eat him alive.

Sam didn’t know who any of them were, actually. He knew Michael, since he was the oldest and everyone seemed to find a reason to say his name every couple of minutes, and he knew which one was Anna because she was the only girl, but he could barely even remember what the other names were. Except for Lucifer. He knew someone there was named Lucifer. That was a hard name to forget.

“So, Sammy, right?” asked the one who had been giving him creepy looks all night, sliding up next to him, much closer than the couch called for.

“Just Sam, actually.”

The man nodded. “Nice to meet you, Sammy. I’m Gabriel.”

Gabriel. Sam wracked his memory, trying to put a story to the name. “You’re the one with the strip club, right?”

Sam had never thought it would be possible for someone to look more proud than Dean did whenever he accomplished something spectacular - whether that something be cracking a case or eating an entire slice of pie in one bite - but Gabriel left Dean in the dust. The man  _preened._

“That’s me! Cassie and Dri have talked about me then?”

Sam raised an eyebrow and looked across the room at Cas, who was talking to Dean and a brother who was tall and gangly and Sam whose name Sam couldn't remember either.

“Cassie?”

Gabriel grinned, and Sam recognized it as the grin every older brother had when given the opportunity to rub their siblings the wrong way. “Yup. Our little Cassie. Golden child of the family.”

“Is that so?” Sam asked dryly.

If Gabriel noticed the disbelieving tone, he didn’t pay it any mind. “Sure is. He’s the quiet one. Never got in trouble. Well, he had a bit of kleptomania phase. And he dropped out of school. And ran away from home to kill monsters. But other than that, he’s a saint.”

Sam laughed. “So, except for everything he’s done wrong, he’s perfect?”

Gabriel answered with a serious nod. “Precisely. You’re quick to catch on there, sasquatch.”

Sam glared at him. “What did you just call me?”

Gabriel just grinned, pulled a lollipop from his pocket, ripped off the wrapper, and stuck it in his mouth.

“You just carry candy in your pockets?”

“Of course. Don’t you?”

“I keep telling you, Gabriel, you are the only person who does that.” Samandriel had appeared and he flopped down on the couch beside his brother. Gabriel remained as close to Sam as he could manage. Sam was wedged into the couch corner, trying to regain his personal space.

“So judgmental, Dri,” Gabriel replied, unconcerned. “You’d probably be more cheerful if you carried around Airheads or something.”

Dri rolled his eyes. “Somehow, my life will go on without them.”

Gabriel smacked his little brother’s chest, earning himself a scowl that he paid no attention to. “Where’s your new boyfriend? I still have to give him the threatening big brother talk.”

“Please don’t.”

“It’s my sacred duty, Samandriel.”

“Then I hereby excuse you from it. Leave Benny alone.”

“Come on, Dri, it’s our duty as big brothers to protect you from emotional harm at the hands of others.”

Dri’s mood had suddenly gone somber and he got off the couch. “Right,” Sam heard him mumble as he left. “Because that worked out real well the last time.”

Confused, Sam glanced at Gabriel, who was frowning and didn’t seem to have any more idea what Dri was talking about than Sam did.

Gabriel sighed. “Dri is either great company, or the world’s biggest downer. There is no in-between with him.” He shook his head and looked at Sam. “Does getting some regular action put him in a better mood?”

“God, you’re worse than my brother,” Sam said, somewhat awed by the fact. He wasn’t sure if it was funny or horrifying.

“I am going to choose to interpret that as a compliment,” Gabriel informed him.

“You don’t even know my brother.”

Gabriel looked across the room to where Cas, Dean, and the brother had been joined by Dri and Benny. “Well, looks like he gets along with Balthazar, so he at least doesn’t take himself too seriously. And if I’m enough like him to earn a comparison, he has to be pretty damn great.”

“Well, at least you aren’t arrogant,” Sam told him.

“Humble as a dog, that’s me,” Gabriel bragged.

Before either of them could say anything else, another Novak, older than Gabriel and vaguely intimidating for reasons Sam couldn’t quite put his finger on, joined them on the couch. “So, you’re Sam.”

It hadn’t sounded like a question, but Sam nodded anyway. “Yeah. And you’re…”

“Lucifer.”

“Right.” It suited him. His tone was actually fairly friendly, despite the crisp way he was talking, but he was menacing all the same.

Lucifer gave a pointed look in the direction of the ongoing conversation with Balthazar, which now also included Anna and was getting progressively louder. “So, Dean and Cas are a thing, Dri and Benny are a thing. How about you? Who are you getting it on with?”

“That’s a pretty personal getting-to-know-you question, isn’t it?”

Gabriel laughed, unfazed. “He has a point, Sammy. You can’t be the only one on your little superhero team who isn’t getting any action. Why didn’t you bring them along? We don’t bite.”

“No, you just start fist-fights in motel rooms.”

“That was Michael and Castiel. We were just backup.”

“Uh-huh.”

“You’re avoiding the question,” Lucifer accused.

“That’s because it’s none of your damn business,” Sam retorted.

Gabriel and Lucifer exchanged meaningful looks across Sam.

“So you  _are_  the only one not getting it on. That’s depressing, Sammy,” Gabriel said, and his tone was somewhere between pitying and amused.

Sam scowled. “It is not.”

Gabriel and Lucifer said nothing, just gave him matching “I-know-better-than-that’ looks, got up, and headed into the kitchen. Sam crossed his arms over his chest and settled back into the couch.

It was  _not_  depressing. Okay, it got a little lonely sitting alone in a motel room so much more than he ever used to - prior to Cas and Dri coming along, Sam couldn’t remember the last time he and Dean had worked a job together and not shared a room - and, yeah, it got a little awkward knowing that if he went to Dean or Benny’s room he had a high chance of walking in on something he didn’t want to know about, but he wasn’t - Okay, maybe it was a little depressing. But just because they were so damn smug about it.

“Burgers are done!” someone shouted from the back door to the house, and Sam, plus the group of six people telling bawdy jokes in the corner, all made for the door. The Novaks shoved their way out in a violent stampede. Dean and Benny were left standing in their dust, both caught off guard.

“This family is weird,” Dean commented, looking at Benny and Sam for agreement.

They both nodded. “You got that right, brother,” Benny replied.

Samandriel stuck his head in the back door. “Hey! You three coming or not?”

“Yeah, we’re coming,” Dean said, starting to move again. “Calm down.”

“Hey, I’m warning you for own benefit. You don’t get out here and fight for your dinner, you’re not going to get any.”

Dean moved a little faster.

It didn’t escalate to a fight, but by the time everyone sat down at the big plastic table they’d dragged out for the occasion, Sam had little doubt that it could have. It was little wonder that Cas and Dri had ended up in such a violent lifestyle, if this was how they’d been raised. They were lucky to have not ended up as a family of bank robbers or something.

Sam didn’t talk much during dinner, save for a few comments to Dean. A conversation wasn’t possible over the noise of each of the Novaks attempting to hold their own conversation, despite the fact that nobody seemed to be talking to anybody else. Cas had always seemed pretty mellow, relatively at least, but now he was shouting something Sam couldn’t make out in Balthazar’s general direction, occasionally gesturing to Dri or hitting his arm to get his attention.

It was the most chaotic experience Sam had ever been a part of.

The night wore on, and somewhere around eleven o’ clock Cas and Dean started exchanging looks that made Sam want to start screaming at them to get a room. Sometimes, he considered dropping to his knees and thanking God, angels, and any other superior being there might be in the universe that Cas and Dean had never tried to jump each others’ bones in public. As far as Sam was aware, anyway, and that was really all he cared about. Benny and Dri were ready to go to, but they were less obvious about it. Benny was just running his fingers lightly through Dri’s hair, and Dri was smiling like he knew something no one else in the room did.

Gabriel sidled up to him at the kitchen table, scooching his chair as close to Sam’s as possible. “So, Sasquatch, my baby brothers say that you guys will probably be in town for a few more days. Taking a little time off and all.”

“Is that what they’re calling it?”

Gabriel laughed. “Jealous, Sammy?”

“Just tired of seeing them shove their tongues down each other’s throats every time I enter a room unannounced. I don’t think I can express just how much I  _don’t_  need to know what turns my brother on.” He’d probably end up spending the next couple of days at the library, holed up somewhere with a book.

Gabriel observed him just long enough for Sam to start getting worried that he was planning something terrible. “You want some cheap entertainment?”

Sam eyed Gabriel carefully. “Like what?”

Gabriel leaned back in his chair until it was only being supported by the two back legs and his feet were on the kitchen table. “Well, I don’t know if my brothers have told you this, but I  _happen_ to be the proud owner of the very best strip club in the state. Possibly the country. Maybe even the world.”

“There goes that modesty again.”

“Always, Sammy, always. So, what do you say?”

“To what?”

Gabriel rolled his eyes with such an exaggerated motion that Sam instantly vowed to never mock Cas and Dri for rolling their eyes ever again. “To coming to my strip club with me, of course. Come on, Samsquatch. Keep up.”

“Samsquatch?”

“Good, right? Just thought it up. Pretty clever, if I do say so myself.”

“Which you do.”

“Which I do. So?”

Sam sighed. He considered rejecting the offer, got as far as beginning to work up the best way of politely declining, when he heard Dri start  _giggling_. It was disturbing, hearing someone as aggressive and covered in tattoos as Samandriel giggle. It was unnatural.

“Sure,” he answered instead. “Why not.”

Gabriel crowed triumphantly and tipped his chair backward, sending himself sprawling across the kitchen floor.

Sam hadn’t expected much of anywhere that Gabriel owned and that was called ‘The Candy Shop,’ but to his surprise the place wasn’t half bad.

It wasn’t half as tacky as he’d have thought. Despite the name, nobody was dressed up like a sexualized candy cane - Sam had seen that in a porno once, it had been supremely disturbing - and it was actually about as classy as Sam imagined a low-budget strip club could get. The lighting wasn’t even horrendous.

“All right, I’ll give it you,” Sam admitted as he and Gabriel took seats at the bar and Gabriel ordered drinks. “This place isn’t the worst I’ve ever seen.”

“You’re too kind. Honestly, Sammy, you have got to loosen up a little. Have a few drinks, do some dancing, flirt a little… Or don’t. Or, at least, not with the dancers.” He winked.

“Subtlety isn’t your strong suit, is it?”

“Everything takes so much longer if you’re subtle about it. And I don’t care that patience is a virtue, I’m not interested in it.”

Sam laughed. “Well, at least you recognize your faults.”

“Does it count as recognizing my faults if I don’t recognize them  _as_  faults? Because I feel no shame over not trying to be more patient.”

“It’s a step in the right direction.”

“I view it as self-confidence,” Gabriel went on. “After all, if I’m happy with who I am, why should I work to change it?”

“That’s one way to look at it.”

“So you agree?”

“I didn’t say that.”

Gabriel grinned and was quiet for a minute. It was weird how much of a difference it made. The club was loud, the music blasting from speakers all around them, people shouting drink orders left and right. Somehow, the loss of Gabriel’s voice stood out amongst all that.

Gabriel hit his arm to make sure he had Sam’s attention. “Enjoying yourself?”

Sam shrugged. “Beats hanging around the motel, I guess.”

“What do you even do, cooped up in a motel room by yourself?”

“Read, mostly. Research for our next hunt.”

“Read? Read what? The motel room bible?”

“I’ve been driven to that before. I have prayed more in the last couple of months since Dean and Cas started dating than I have in the rest of my life.”

Gabriel chuckled. “They’re that bad, huh?”

“Worse. Dean’s a nightmare.”

“Well, don’t go putting all the blame on him. Cas wasn’t exactly shy back when he was dating Meg.” Gabriel hesitated. “Then again, we mostly thought that was Meg’s bad influence. Maybe it’s just Cas’ type. What about Dri? He and Benny give you a break?”

“They did at first. And then Dri’s sense of shame disappeared and now he’s even worse. He walks around like everyone should be jealous of him and he wants to be sure they know it.”

“Really? I wouldn’t have pegged my baby brother for the exhibitionist type. Maybe that big friend of yours is a bad influence.”

Sam could only imagine the fallout that would come from Gabriel learning just who - or, more importantly,  _what_  - his brother was involved with. That was Samandriel’s problem to deal with though, not Sam’s. Sam just smiled. “Yeah, maybe.”

“Or maybe Dri’s just glad to be getting some action. It’s good for you, you know. Having someone help you out regularly. Does wonders for the mood.”

He was now looking at Sam with a look that could probably qualify as a leer.

“Gabriel, has anyone ever told you that you’re kind of creepy?”

“It’s come up a time or two. Why, do you agree with them?”

“Very much so.”

Gabriel stuck out his tongue, but before he could say anything, two new beer bottles clinked down onto the table beside the old ones. Sam looked up to see one of the waitresses.

“Boss, we all love you around here, but you  _are_  a creep. Listen to your boyfriend.”

“Oh, I’m not his-” but the woman was already gone.

Gabriel just smirked. “What’s the matter, Sammy? Do I get you all flustered?”

Sam glared at him without putting any real heat behind it and refused to admit that he could feel himself starting to blush.

Gabriel took a swig of beer. “Maybe you could get a dog.”

“What?”

“Get a dog. You know, to keep you company around the motel while my brothers are stealing your friends away for inappropriate shenanigans.”

“Right,” Sam said dryly. “I can take it out to play fetch while they… What did you say? Have inappropriate shenanigans?”

“Beats Bibles.”

The thing about people like Gabriel, Sam had learned, was that they were so strange it was nearly impossible to argue with their logic.

Sam shook his head. “As much as I like dogs, Dean would never allow it. He’s afraid they’ll shed all over his car.” Sam smirked. “Besides, he got this fear virus thing from a ghost once; a yorkie chased him halfway across town. He hasn’t been the same since.”

Gabriel laughed. He was loud when he laughed, so much so that people on the other end of the room looked up, even over all the music. Sam found he didn’t mind, even if it did make him jump a little with its unexpected volume.

“That guy ran for his life from a Yorkshire terrier? Oh, I would have paid good money to see that. Did you take a picture? How about a video? You could go viral with a video like that.”

Sam rolled his eyes, chuckling. “It was pretty great. In hindsight, at least, once we knew Dean would be okay. Benny and I teased him about it for  _weeks_. Still haven’t entirely stopped, to be honest. Just slowed down.” Sam paused. “I don’t think we’ve told Cas. We should, he could use it as ammunition at some point.”

“Sabotaging your brother, Sammy? That’s cold.”

Sam scoffed. “Yeah, right. Are you telling me that if I asked for embarrassing stories about Cas and Dri you wouldn’t tell me?”

Gabriel replied with a mischievous grin. “That depends. Are you asking?”

By the time their cab dropped Sam back at the motel, Gabriel had managed to sweet-talk his way into convincing Sam to go to dinner with him the next night.

“It’s a date, right, Sam?”

It was almost a joke, but the tone was just a little bit off, and it was the first time since he’d met Gabriel that the man had used his actual name. Sam paused halfway out the door of the cab and looked back.

Gabriel grinned, but it was strained. Sam hadn’t known Gabriel long, but it seemed out of character.

“You okay?”

Gabriel’s grin widened and began to look a little more sincere. “I’m great.” He leaned over, kissed Sam on the cheek, pushed him the rest of the way out of the cab, and shut the door before Sam had a chance to respond. The car was out of the parking lot and out of sight before Sam’s brain caught up with the rest of him.

By then, it was a bit late for Sam to do anything about it, unless he wanted to call Gabriel and have an uncomfortable silence through the phone while he tried to remember how the English language worked.

He stood dumbly in the parking lot for several minutes before footsteps snapped him out of it. He turned to see Benny and Samandriel walking towards him, holding hands.

“Hey, Sam,” Dri greeted. “How was the Candy Shop?”

Sam shrugged and looked out at the road where Gabriel’s cab had been several minutes ago. “I think your brother just asked me out on a date.”

Dri shrugged. “Wouldn’t surprise me. The fact that you’re not sure does though. Gabriel isn’t usually one for subtlety.”

“Yeah, I noticed.”

“Did you say yes?”

“What?”

“To the date. Did you say yes?”

“He pushed me out of the cab.”

Dri laughed. “Now,  _that_  sounds like Gabriel.”

“You’re family is giving me a headache, Dri.”

“You? I grew up with those maniacs.”

“So, at least you know how to deal with them.”

“You’ll work it out.” Dri patted Sam’s arm in a mockery of sympathy, grabbed Benny’s hand again, and made for their motel room.

Sam returned to his room as well, but he didn’t sleep well that night. Gabriel had left him with entirely too much to think about and not enough information to do the thinking with.

Someone knocked on the door at nine-thirty the next morning. Sam, somewhat beleaguered, stood up and opened it to find Dean, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

“I hear you’ve got yourself a date?”

Sam glared at his older brother, you looked just as proud as he had every other time Sam had had someone express an interest in him, ever since elementary school. Once, Sam had thought he’d mature out of that. He’d given up on that thought some time ago now.

“No.”

“Really? Not what Dri says you told him. Gabriel’s strip club was that impressive, huh? You know, most guys go home with one of the strippers, not the owner.”

“I didn’t go home with anyone.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Why not?”

“Well, for starters, he owns a strip club.”

Dean stared at him for a minute. “So?”

“You really think I want to go out with a guy who owns a strip club?”

Dean shrugged. “Sam, I’m dating a guy who looks like a Gerard Way wannabe. Benny’s dating a hot-headed kid who hates vampires with a passion. You can’t date the owner of a strip club?”

“Why the hell would I  _want_  to?”

Dean shrugged again. “Well, he owns a strip club. He probably has some pretty good talents.”

Sam shut his eyes with a groan. “God, Dean, butt out of my sex life, would you?”

“Sammy, you are spending way too much time in motel rooms and libraries lately. It’s unhealthy. And since I’m unwilling to sacrifice my own sex life for your mental well-being, you need to start getting out more.”

“And you want me to start with your boyfriend’s older brother, huh?”

“Well, at least you won’t have to lie to him, right? He already knows all about the hunting. Besides, I’m not saying you should marry the guy or anything. Just quit moping around here feeling sorry for yourself.”

“I’m not moping!”

“It looks like moping to me.”

Recognizing the argument for the pointless endeavor it was, Sam just huffed.

Dean shook his head and rolled his eyes. “I’m just saying, Sam. Get out there, have some fun. It’ll be good for you. I mean, last night went well, right?”

Sam shrugged. “It… wasn’t awful.”

“See? There you go. Take advantage of it before the guy comes to his senses and remembers he owns a strip club.”

Sam snorted. “You saying I need to get a date before he leaves me for a stripper?”

“People who  _don’t_  own strip clubs leave their partners for strippers. I can’t imagine the temptation Gabriel has to deal with.”

“You know, I think you and Gabriel would be really good friends,” Sam said. “You’re both overly dramatic.”

Dean paused and gave Sam a wounded look. “I cannot believe you just said that.”

“I rest my case.”

Dean threw a pillow at him and made for the door. “Just saying, Sammy. You can only sit in motel rooms for so long, you know. What do you even do with yourself? Watch bad reality TV and read the Bible? Fate worse than death.”

Sam reached for the pillow Dean had thrown, but Dean scampered out the door and out of reach. Sam laid back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Unfortunately, he was pretty sure that Dean wasn’t wrong. Gabriel had been nice. It had been a good time, hanging out with him the night before. Sam couldn’t honestly say he’d be opposed to doing it again. Besides, what harm could it do? If things went badly once they turned it into an actual date, Sam would be gone within a few days anyway.

Sam took a cab to Gabriel’s that night, feeling like a teenager more than he ever had while he was actually a teenager. His hands were clammy and he kept trying to get rid of some of the sweat by wiping them on the insides of his jacket pockets. It wasn’t helping.

Gabriel wasn’t the one to answer the door.

It was Michael. He was standing in the doorway, eyes hard and mouth set firm. He was a good five inches shorter than Sam, but he seemed to tower in his own right nonetheless. His build was slight too, not nearly as broad and muscular as Sam, or even as much as Castiel. Still, Sam was intimidated. Michael looked as though he might very well be made of steel. He was not a man Sam had any desire to ever piss off.

“You’re here for Gabriel?” Michael asked coolly, and for all that it was phrased as a polite question Sam felt certain that he wasn’t supposed to reply.

Michael appraised him for a moment and it took most of Sam’s concentration to not fidget. Finally, Michael took a step back and gestured for Sam to enter the house.

“He’s getting ready or something,” Michael said. “Takes him four times longer to get ready for things than any girl I’ve ever met.”

“You can’t rush perfection!” Gabriel shouted from somewhere down the hall. Sam wasn’t sure how he’d managed to hear Michael’s comment; the man hadn’t been speaking loudly and it didn’t sound like Gabriel was close.

Sam stood awkwardly in the living room for a moment, feeling out of place, when he felt as though he were being watched. He turned to see Michael watching him with an appraising expression again, now joined by Balthazar and Lucifer.

“You’re a hunter too, aren’t you?” Michael asked, with that same tone of not needing or wanting an answer. For a moment Sam wondered how Cas and Dri had ever worked up the nerve to break a single rule, if this was the man who’d been in charge of disciplining them.

Sam nodded silently.

Michael looked down the hall and back to Sam, then took a step forward. “You are  _not_  going to talk him into going hunting with you.”

“I had no intention of trying,” Sam said honestly. Unlike Dean and Benny, who seemed to rather enjoy having their romantic partners within arm’s reach at all times, Sam found he much preferred the idea of dating someone who was a little more removed from the hunting scene.

The three Novaks didn’t look as though they believed him.

“He wouldn’t last three minutes out there,” a female voice said, and Anna appeared to stand with her brothers. “He doesn’t think enough.”

“I’m not going to try to make him into a hunter,” Sam reiterated. “If I was looking for another hunting partner I can think of ten guys off the top of my head who’d probably be better at it than Gabriel.”

As though to prove everyone’s point, there was a clatter, a thud, a sharp yelp, and a crash from down the hall, followed by Gabriel shouting “I’m okay!” down to them.

Each of the Novaks rolled their eyes and shook their heads.

“I like him,” Sam said, choosing his words carefully. “And not in a hunting way. I enjoy his company. I like talking to him. I don’t want to drag him out to start hunting with me. I am aware that there are other ways to spend time than killing things.”

Lucifer snorted. “Well, that’s more than can be said for Cas and Dri.”

“They’re… Dedicated,” Sam said, not sure how else to reply.

“That’s a word for it,” Balthazar said, probably running up a list of better ones.

Sam was quiet for a minute, unsure how to respond. He cleared his throat. “Yeah, well. Not going to convince Gabriel to hunt. I promise.”

“Good,” Gabriel said, appearing down the hallway and approaching them. “I’ve heard stories. Sounds disgusting. Don’t you have to decapitate things?”

“Sometimes.”

Gabriel made a face of disgust. “Gross. Wouldn’t that cover you with blood?”

“Usually.”

Balthazar laughed. “Good thing you’re the squeamish one in the family, Gabriel.”

“Very good,” Michael said, tone less amused. “Two little brothers out hunting is all I’m putting up with.”

“Come on, Michael,” Gabriel said rolling his eyes. He took Sam’s arm and started tugging him towards the door. “You don’t really think I’d give up the Candy Shop so I can run around with people with bad taste and get covered in blood, do you?”

“Didn’t think it was something Dri would be interested in either, but here we are.”

“Whatever, Michael. See you around.” Gabriel pulled Sam out the door and slammed it shut behind them.

He grimaced as he and Sam walked towards Gabriel’s car. “Sorry about that. My siblings are…”

“Psychotic? That’s the word Cas and Dri usually use.”

“Is it? Nicer than I would have expected.”

They were quiet for a minute or two as they drove, before Gabriel turned his head to look at Sam. “So, was it worth it?”

“Was what worth what?”

“The protective sibling talk. I mean, if we’re dating then hopefully it was worth it. But if we’re not then that was just really awkward and uncomfortable for no good reason.”

Sam looked at Gabriel for a minute, smirking.

“What?”

“Nothing. Just noticing that the inability to talk about emotions properly seems to run in your family.”

Gabriel scoffed, nerves vanishing in favor of his own ego. “Please. I’m nowhere near as bad as them. I’m less violent, for one.”

“Considering how homicidal your family seems to be, that’s not saying much.”

Gabriel laughed. “Fair enough.” He bit his lip. “That doesn’t answer my question.”

Sam smiled as they pulled into the restaurant parking lot. He leaned across the seats and kissed Gabriel, slowly, testing. He pulled back a few inches. “I think it might have been.”

 


	18. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And we're done! And I really, really hate writing endings.

“It hasn’t gotten any better, I take it?” Gabriel asked, and if he was trying to sound sympathetic, he was failing dismally.

“Don’t laugh at me,” Sam retorted. “If you think it’s that funny, get over here and _you_ can watch it.”

“Yuck, no thank you,” Gabriel replied. “Not something I ever want to see.”

“Trust me, I didn’t want to see it either. Nobody’s asking me though.”

Sam was sitting on a bench a short distance from the motel they were all staying in, taking advantage of the nice weather while escaping the dinghy, stuffy little room he was otherwise cooped up in. He’d called Gabriel for moral support, but wasn’t getting much of a response.

“I can’t go anywhere,” Sam continued. “There is a couple everywhere I turn. I think they’re lying in wait or something. Nowhere is safe, Gabriel. For God’s sake, I don’t know when these people _breathe_.”

Gabriel laughed. “Maybe they don’t. I’ve always suspected that Cas, at least, might possess preternatural abilities. When was the last time you checked him for non-humanness, huh?”

Sam groaned. “You aren’t helping.”

“What do you want from me? I’d offer to come down there and strangle them all in their sleep for you, but I have work to do. Besides, Dean and Benny are bigger than me.”

“And it sounded like such a good idea too.”

“Sarcasm is unnecessary, Sammy.”

Sam rolled his eyes and wondered, not for the first time, what exactly it was he saw in Gabriel. “Right. Look, if you’re just going to tease me, I’m going to hang up.”

Gabriel didn’t have a chance to reply before another voice wandered into earshot. “It’s not going to happen, Dean.”

“Hang on,” Sam said into the phone. “I think our brothers are arguing.”

“Ooh, lover’s tiff? Do tell.”

“I’m not saying cold turkey or anything,” Dean was saying. Sam shamelessly eavesdropped. “I’m just saying that it’s something for you to think about.”

“Hmm. Thought about it. No. Not happening.”

“I think Dean’s trying to make Cas quit something,” Sam told Gabriel.

“He’s not trying to make him stop smoking, is he?”

“Maybe. Why would that be such a bad thing?”

“Well, Balthazar and I have a bet going. I’m saying there’ll be at least another month before Dean starts trying to make him quit. If that’s what’s going on, I’m out fifty bucks.”

“Definitely not that then.”

“You’re such a good boyfriend.” Gabriel sighed. “Not that it’ll make much difference. Dri’s going to call the moment he hears about it. I think he likes Balthazar better.”

“Because he’s playing fair?”

“Don’t let that cute face fool you; Dri’s a dirty rotten cheat. Never play poker with him. Boy has bad habits. Don’t know where he gets it from.”

“Couldn’t imagine,” Sam said dryly.

“Hey, watch the tone, Sasquatch. Or else you’re going to be very lonely the next time you’re in town.”

“Empty threats.”

“Oh, you think so, do you?”

“I know so.”

Gabriel gave an irritated huff and changed the subject. “What about my other baby brother? Any crises going on there?”

“Do you have a bet going on him too?”

“…Maybe.”

“Gabriel.”

“What? What good are brothers if you can’t make a profit off them?”

Sam rolled his eyes. “What’s the bet?”

“Whether Dri or Benny starts off their first big fight. I’m not telling you which side I’m on, it wouldn’t be fair.”

“Wouldn’t be able to help you anyway. They bicker so much I’m not sure I’d know a real fight if I heard one.”

“Good to know that getting a boyfriend hasn’t made him any less of a pain in the ass.”

“Your brother’s consistent, I’ll give him that.”

Gabriel laughed. Sam stood up, stretched, and started walking without any real destination in mind.

They talked for awhile longer; Gabriel complaining about the new bartender he’d just hired who didn’t know how to properly pour drinks yet, Sam griping about how he’d always been research boy, but now he was research boy while everyone else ran off with their boyfriend and that really just wasn’t fair.

They hung up at last and Sam approached the motel as the sky began to darken, shot through with streaks of orange.

“But you have to look at it relatively,” Samandriel’s voice said, floating towards Sam as one of the motel room doors opened. “Yeah, the monster was pathetic, but the whole damn movie was. It’s like complaining about the special effects from one of the first episodes of Doctor Who.”

Benny shook his head, following Samandriel out of their room. Sam got the impression that this discussion had been going on for a while. “You can’t just change the rules because I’m winning, angel.”

“I’m not! You just don’t want to admit that you’re wrong. Which you are, by the way.”

“Would your pride ever allow you to say that I was right?”

Dri snorted derisively. “I doubt that’s ever going to be relevant.”

Benny swatted his head. Dri ducked away grinning. He caught sight of Sam and waved. “Finally done talking to my brother?”

“Not all of us are around our boyfriends twenty-four hours a day, Dri.”

“You should be grateful for that. I don’t know what you see him, but I’ll cover for you if you want to try and run.”

“Where’s that protective brotherly love I thought your family was so good at?”

Dri shrugged. “Gabriel tends to deserve whatever he gets. Besides, you’re not as annoying as he is.”

“I love him for his compassion,” Benny declared. Dri punched his arm and started dragging him away. Benny followed without protest and Sam entered his room.

It was strange, the easy rhythm they’d managed to fall into. It was reassuring in a strange sort of why, despite Sam’s steadily growing disgust at public displays of affection. It was like pieces of a puzzle had fallen into place, without him ever knowing the puzzle even existed.

It seemed to Sam that it was as close to home as hunters ever got. It was a fragile sort of peace, he knew. Such things always were for hunters. But for now it was peace, and home, and family, so, for now, it would do just fine.


End file.
